Trust
by Writing 'N Stuff
Summary: Sometimes we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will." - Author Unknown. Ziva's arrival at NCIS turns the lives of her and Kate upside down. Some violence, language, and romance. Femslash, AU: Kate/Ziva
1. Left Out

**Title: **Trust

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any part of NCIS and am not seeking to gain any sort of monetary profit off of posting this story. NCIS is owned and produced by CBS Television Studios, Belisarius Productions, and all of the people associated with those organizations.

**Author's Note**: This is my first fanfic, and this story is femslash. (Which will transpire in later chapters.) If you aren't into that sort of thing, don't read it and don't comment.

**Rating: **Rated T for coarse language and for romance in later chapters.

Alternate universe that defies the boundaries of time and logic, Kate/Ziva.

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**Chapter 1: Left Out**

Director Morrow's transfer to the Department of Homeland Security didn't make MTAC any more enjoyable—or tolerable, even.

"Jethro, from what you have told me and what I have gathered from other sources, it is not safe for Ms. Todd to go with you on tha—"

"I know, Jen." Gibbs sighed and rolled his eyes once again at the new Director's obvious attempt to sound more official as she snapped at him in irate tones, trying her best to establish her structural superiority over the rest of NCIS. She was doing a pretty good job of it, considering it was only two days after her promotion.

"Then don't let her go on the mission. I can't afford to lose an agent, Jethro."

"She wants to go."

"Ari Haswari has a disturbing obsession with her. Until you can deal with him, keep her within NCIS headquarters during operation hours and have someone accompany her home."

"Fine, I'll give her something else to do. Paperwork or something." Gibbs moved toward the door, but stopped when Director Jenny spoke.

"Jethro, be careful. Haswari is dangerous." Her voice had softened, a tone of concern replacing her now-typical overemphasized sternness. Gibbs nodded in recognition. "And Jethro," Jenny added, her voice growing severe again, "Don't give me that look; Paris was a long time ago. This is a strictly business relationship."

Gibbs smiled faintly. "I know it was. You're the one who keeps bringing it up. If this is only a business relationship, you shouldn't call me Jethro."

The Director sighed in exasperation, and raised her voice to respond. "You know that has nothing to do with—" Gibbs had already left.

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Was it really only this morning that Kate had vowed for the umpteenth time not to let DiNozzo's childish behavior get to her again? Chastising herself in her usual manner, she grabbed her sketch pad from Tony's desk—now covered with multiple water ring stains where Tony had decided it would make a great coaster—dropped it into the bottom drawer and slammed it shut, sending another glare his way. Tony raised his arms and made an immature face, obviously failing to acknowledge or take responsibility for the childishness of his actions.

"C'mon Kate it's just a cover, your cute little drawings are fine!"

Cute little drawings? What the hell was that? Kate spent a lot of time on those sketches and for Tony to minimize that effort by—She stopped her mental rant from continuing any further and breathed in sharply, but couldn't stop herself from snapping at Tony. "That's an expensive book, DiNozzo! It's not a place for you to put your stupid soda all over when you've lost your coaster for the twentieth time!"

"Soda? It's not just soda. It's Pepsi, Kate," replied Tony, pointing to the plastic bottle in his hand, "and Pepsi is America's drink."

"It's pure sugar somehow liquefied and dyed dark brown, DiNozzo."

"God bless our country," Tony sniffed. "What haven't you contributed to the world, America?"

Furious, Kate yanked the bottle from Tony's hands, unscrewed the cap, and proceeded to pour the rest of its carbonated contents onto his head. McGee turned around in his chair and let out a loud laugh as Tony stiffened and shot Kate a particularly nasty glare.

"Quiet Probie! That wasn't nice, Todd."

"Don't touch my sketchbook, DiNozzo."

Gibbs briskly strode through the bullpen and grabbed the gun on his desk. "Gear up! We're going to take out Ari! Nice look, DiNozzo."

"Thank you, boss."

A highly amused Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Is wearing your drink the fashion these days?"

Tony clenched his fists and spoke through his teeth. "Agent Todd thinks so."

"I'm sure you deserved it, DiNozzo."

Kate grabbed what she needed from her desk and prepared to walk out with Tony and McGee, but stopped abruptly, avoiding a near-collision when Gibbs stepped in front of her. He spoke, his usual stern tone failing to mask a vague hint of concern in his voice.

"You don't need to go with us this time, Kate."

Kate looked up at Gibbs with a gleam of irritation and hurt in her eyes. "Why not? I want to help—"

"The Director has given me direct orders to keep you under NCIS protection until Ari is accounted for."

"NCIS doesn't need to be this over-protective, Gibbs. There are plenty of other people who would want any of us dead."

"Yeah, well none of them are Ari. Look through this paperwork while we're gone."

Gibbs dropped a heavy stack of manila folders onto Kate's desk, and turned toward Tony and McGee, who were watching in silence by the window. Kate made eye contact with Tony, giving him a weak smile. He actually seemed disappointed, maybe even sad, that she wasn't coming along with them. Before walking away, he paused and opened his mouth to speak, only to look down and blink for a few seconds. Furrowing his brow, he turned away and followed McGee and Gibbs. Kate was surprised to feel her heart sink slightly. There were times when Tony was a better friend to her than she wanted to admit, and she almost started to regret the whole soda incident just minutes earlier. Almost. It still felt so good to get back at Tony for ruining the cover of her book, definitely worth it. As the three moved toward the elevator, DiNozzo looked back and shouted to Kate.

"Kate! You owe me a 7up!"

Kate rolled her eyes irately. Tony's moment of sympathy was apparently over. "I thought you said Pepsi was America's drink!"

"I lied! It better be here when I get back, that Pepsi cost me a dollar and twenty-five cents, Kate! A dollar twenty five!"

Kate had stopped looking at DiNozzo seconds before, but could still hear Gibbs' slap as the three entered the elevator, and a muffled "Thank you, boss" from Tony. If there was one thing she feared the most, other than perhaps death, it was feeling useless. Kate felt completely useless at that moment. She was angry at Ari, Gibbs, The Director, Ari, Tony, Ari, maybe even McGee, and Ari. Ari, Ari, Ari—what the hell was his problem? Agent Todd couldn't wait until he was dead, and she could continue on with her life that felt more and more like it was put on hold. She could have closure, and wouldn't have to think about the incident at autopsy or the kidnapping. Kate laughed at herself bitterly. His eyes looked kind? What kind of justification was that? Ari should have died that day, and it was her fault that she didn't. Kate groaned and looked at the folders on her desk. It would probably be helpful to start work on them, as agonizingly boring as paperwork was. It would be a welcome distraction, and she began to wish that there was more of it. Kate felt a surge of apathy—maybe later, in a few minutes or something. When she was sure that no one else was around, NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Todd slumped down in her chair, holding her head in her hands.

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**End of chapter 1. Apologies for it being so short, my initial first chapter switched viewpoints four times and I figured it best to split that into two or three chapters. I have the plot mapped out, I just have yet to write much of it. I'm doing the editing on chapter two, and I will likely be finished with it sometime this week. Expect an improvement in writing quality as time goes on.**

**Feel free to review, I would be very appreciative.**


	2. Inconveniences

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. If I did, it would be really strange that I would sit and write fan fiction in my free time. Also, I wouldn't be wasting my time trolling around the interwebs for people who forgot to write disclaimers so I could sue them for fun and profit.**

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**Chapter 2: Inconveniences**

Tony crouched behind a box of crates and reloaded his pistol, motioning for McGee to move forward. Gibbs' angered shouts at Ari came answered by gunfire, and the two agents made their way toward where he shot blindly at what could be any number of Ari's lackeys around the corner. Tony hated abandoned warehouses; gunfights always seemed to happen in them. Why couldn't they happen at a nicer place, like…well, somewhere nicer than a dank and musty old warehouse? McGee emerged from cover, let off two panicked shots, sending a man falling to the ground from an elevated platform. Tony did a quick double take, and blinked.

"Nice shot, Probie."

"I got lucky."

"I'll say, you just—"

"DiNozzo! Save your tender moment for later and fire!" Tony winced at Gibbs' voice and sent three shots from over the crate, which was getting riddled with just a few more bullet holes than he was comfortable with. Crouching, Tony moved toward Gibbs' position and fired at another one of Ari's henchmen, missing twice until a third bullet hit him straight in the chest.

"How many more, boss?" Tony whispered frantically.

"One." Gibbs fired a shot, hitting a third man. "Two." A second shot, almost missing but still making its mark on a fourth shooter. "Ari." Gibbs clenched his jaw as Haswari's silhouette moved closer to them with his typical infuriating swagger. Apparently, he didn't expect them to shoot. Gibbs reloaded his pistol for good measure, and glanced at DiNozzo while sending a subtle signal to McGee. Three gunshots in near unison, and Ari collapsed to the ground.

Or at least they thought it was Ari. After waiting in silence for several minutes, the three NCIS agents made their way toward the final gunman's body. Gibbs let out a furious grunt and jammed his gun back in its holster. "Where the hell is Haswari!?"

"I don't know boss." Tony let out a bitter laugh "It's great, we always have something messing it up and making things a little more…"

"Inconvenient? Insanely difficult?" added McGee.

"That. It's like nothing ever goes our way the first time. Or the second time. Or the—how many times have we tried to kill Ari now?"

"Somewhere around the number of times The U.S. has tried to kill Castro," McGee replied cynically.

"The guy looked just like Ari from a distance," Tony rambled on, "I mean come on were we supposed to think he was someone else? I could have sworn he was Ari. I bet that's why Ari hired him. Didn't he look just like Ari, Boss?"

Gibbs sighed in frustration. "But he's not, DiNozzo. We're going back to headquarters; we need to restart on finding Ari before he finds us. Or Kate."

Tony fell silent at the thought of Ari hurting Kate.

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Kate had managed to plow through the obscene amounts of paperwork within a matter of hours, taking advantage of the opportunity to distract herself from—no, she wasn't going to think about him. After moving the paperwork aside, she actually bought DiNozzo his 7up—something she didn't see herself doing earlier—as the rest of the team left to find…Once again, she was not going to think about him. Kate dropped the 7up on Tony's desk and groaned as she returned to hers. She ran her fingers nervously through her hair. There was nothing to do, she couldn't go outside of headquarters, she had finished all of the paperwork, and the only reading material was the men's magazine Tony hid in his desk. Kate bit her lip and slumped into her chair. They were going to kill Ari. Crap, she wasn't supposed to think about him. They were going to kill Ari without her—if it wasn't today, it would be soon, and she wouldn't get the satisfaction of being there to watch it happen.

The worst part was that she couldn't stop thinking about him. She laughed bitterly at herself for the umpteenth time that day. Autopsy. Kate couldn't stop thinking about that damned day in Autopsy, either. She couldn't even bring herself to kill him? What was her problem? Haswari had gotten to her somehow, and she would never be able to figure out why. For the first time in ages, Caitlin Todd felt helpless. She dug her nails into the desk and looked to the paperwork—if only there were more of it, or at least someone to talk to. Abby and Ducky had taken off for the weekend over an hour ago, and the sun had just set. Kate inhaled sharply; she couldn't keep it in anymore.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Kate slammed her fist on the table, "You son of a bitch!" Surprised by the profanity of her outburst, she slumped back down in her chair and lowered her head sheepishly. At least no one else was there to hear it.

"I am a woman. I was not aware that this was not obvious."

Could Kate not get a single moment of privacy? She paused and focused her attention on her surroundings, then looked up at the dark-haired woman in front of her. Tan military jacket and cargo pants—interesting fashion choice—and a Middle Eastern accent that she was too exasperated to try and place. Kate found herself more than a little jealous of her olive toned skin. The woman moved a strand of wavy hair behind her ear, sending her a puzzled glance. What in God's name was she doing at NCIS? Kate picked up a pen on her desk and blinked awkwardly at her. "You're a woman. Noted."

"I see I have upset you already."

"I wasn't talking about you," Kate gave a dismissive reply, "Who are—" She interrupted herself when, after gazing up at the woman in front of her she recognized something familiar about her features. Or was it her attitude? Or the look that she was giving her? Whatever it was, it disturbed her and she couldn't figure out why. "You remind me of someone."

The other woman shot Kate an amused look. "I do not know who that would be. I am Officer Ziva David from Mossad, and I am here—"

Mossad. Was this about Ari? Kate felt her heart rate spike as blood rushed to her face. Now she remembered—Officer David reminded her of Ari. She didn't want to think about him, she wanted to push him to the back of her mind and looking at the smug face of the woman in front of her wasn't doing any good. Was the Mossad Officer eyeing her? Kate narrowed her eyes, began tapping the pen on her desk, and spoke through her teeth.

"Don't look at me that way."

"What way?"

The teasing tone of Officer David's voice infuriated Kate, and it was the most she could do not to jump from her seat and slap the look off of her face. "You know what I'm talking about, Ms. David."

Officer David shot Kate a playful glance, her deep brown eyes sparkling suggestively. "You think I am checking you up."

Kate stared at the other woman in disbelief for several seconds. "No, I think you're checking me out. That's not appropriate—"

The Israeli laughed and sat on Kate's desk, fiddling around with the various pens and pencils in the coffee cup and running her fingers across the paperweight. "Sometimes it is hard not to notice certain…aspects…of other women." She looked up at Kate, smirking.

An indignant Kate looked back at the other woman. "I can't believe this, I don't even know you and you're sitting here talking to me as if you think I'm actually interested in—you don't even know my name!" Kate groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I don't need this right now, I really don't. Why are you here, Officer David?"

"I am here to stop NCIS from killing a Mossad agent."

Kate felt her distaste for the woman growing by the second. "Ari Haswari."

"So you know him."

Officer David's casual tone finally caused Kate to loathe her. The way she talked, the way she looked at her, the way she acted like she owned the place. Most of all, how much the woman reminded her of Ari. "Yes. I know him. And I want you to know that your organization isn't going to stop our organization from killing him, and we don't need you over here trying to mess everything up. He hates us, we hate him, and I hate anyone who wants to get in the way of this guy finally meeting some sort of justice. That means you."

The woman's smug expression changed and her dark brown eyes grew unreadable. Kate gave herself a silent round of applause for her success.

Officer David stood up from where she sat at the edge of the desk. "I am looking for Agent Gibbs," she spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, staring at Kate intently. "Where is he?"

Kate returned the Israeli's gaze with a challenging glare. "He's not here right now."

"When will he be back?"

"I have no idea." Kate answered, defiant. "I told you everything you need to know."

Officer David leaned in uncomfortably close to Kate's ear and lowered her voice to a threatening whisper. "You are hiding something from me. Where is Gibbs?"

Kate scolded herself for being intimidated by her. "I told you, I—"

An irritable voice cut off Kate's reply. "Am I interrupting something?"

Kate looked up at Gibbs and let out an audible sigh of relief. "This…woman is looking for you." She found herself growing tense again when she realized by looking at Gibbs' expression that they weren't successful in killing Ari. She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up in the first place.

The Mossad Officer turned away from Kate and outstretched a hand toward Gibbs. "I am Mossad Officer Ziva David."

Gibbs stared at the Mossad Officer. "What business does Mossad have at NCIS?"

"I would like to speak with you about the matter in private, Agent Gibbs"

"I think we can talk about it here, Officer David."

The Israeli sent a quick glance toward Kate, who smiled smugly at her, then shifted her gaze back toward Gibbs. "Fine, I would like to speak with you about a Mossad Agent that your organization has been targeting."

Gibbs crooked an eyebrow. "You want to speak with me about Ari?"

"Mossad would be very appreciative if you did not kill him."

"Well, Mossad will just have to deal with that one, Officer David. He's an immediate threat to all of us." Gibbs looked down at the Mossad Officer and spoke sternly, "When I get a hold of him, I will kill him. Have I made myself clear?"

"That was not a suggestion, Agent Gibbs." Officer David paused, tilting her head as if lost in thought. "It would be unfortunate if our two organizations were somehow involved in an international crisis."

"Was that a threat, David?"

"It was a fact."

Gibbs, clearly growing tired of the Mossad Officer, addressed her in a quiet, intimidating tone. "Alright Officer David," Gibbs replied, placing an irate emphasis on her last name, "Let's talk about this with The Director so we can get this situation cleared up and get you back to Israel."

Kate shot a glare toward Officer David, who returned the look with a smug sidelong glance and a faint smirk as she followed Gibbs out of the bullpen. It frightened her to realize that Ari was no longer the only one consuming her thoughts.


	3. Tension

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of NCIS.**

**The overall plot outline is complete but the chapter-by-chapter outlines are only written up to chapter 4 at this point. From the way it's playing out, there will likely be around twenty-some odd chapters or so. That's a vague estimate. **

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**Chapter 3: Tension**

Director Shepard ignored Gibbs' agitated eye roll as he left her office, shutting the door on his way out. Officer David sat in a chair in front of her desk with a faint smile on her lips, and Jenny found herself wishing that the circumstances of their reunion were different. They hadn't seen each other since Cairo, four years ago.

"It's nice to see you again." Director Jenny gave the Mossad Officer a smile that she hoped didn't appear to be too forced.

Ziva nodded. "It is."

"How have you been, Ziva?"

"I have been…well." The Israeli wasn't convincing at all.

Jenny sighed and decided not to delay the issue at hand. "NCIS has been gathering evidence to show that Ari Haswari is a rogue agent."

"Mossad assures you that the evidence is false, wishes that you end the investigation, and that Agent Gibbs and his team stop threatening to kill Ari."

Jenny shifted in her chair and clasped her hands on the desk. "Mossad believes that Ari is innocent."

"Yes."

"Do you believe that he is innocent, Ziva?"

The Israeli paused. "Yes. I believe he is innocent." Director Shepard examined her closely. Her voice had faltered slightly—something almost undetectable, but Jenny knew her; she was beginning to question the judgment of Mossad, as well as her own. She decided to lie to Ziva, to save them both time. "I will tell Gibbs to stop pursuing Ari. NCIS will also terminate any active collection of evidence against him."

"Good. That was easier than I had expected," Ziva said carefully. It was obvious that she didn't believe her. "I will return to Israel with the news." Officer David stood up to leave, but stopped before she opened the door and shot Jenny a sincere glance. "I hope that you do not take this conflict between our organizations personally."

Director Shepard smiled. "I understand, Ziva."

The Israeli bit her lip and looked down, then moved away from the door and sat in the chair across from Jenny again. The Director gave her a concerned look and leaned forward in her seat. "What's wrong, Ziva?"

"I…nothing is, I am fine." She lowered her voice to a shaking whisper. "Show me the evidence about Ari."

"The evidence is classified. NCIS doesn't know if you'll relay that to Mossad."

Ziva gazed back at Jenny with pleading eyes. "I will not. Please. I want to know."

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Kate put on her coat and slammed her desk drawer shut. Striding quickly toward the elevator, all she could think about was getting home and stretching out on the couch in front of the fire, or taking a warm bath, or getting some rest, or finishing the book she had started a few weeks ago. Anything that would take her mind off of—the elevator opened and Kate found herself standing face-to-face with an exhausted looking Tony.

"You're back late. Where's McGee?"

"I had to get coffee for Gibbs. And McGee got to go home, while I'm stuck here until I finish paperwork," Tony replied grumpily.

"Oh. Well I'll see you tomorrow, Tony."

Kate tried to step around Agent DiNozzo, but to her frustration was stopped when he kept sidestepping in front of her, purposely blocking her way into the elevator. She finally gave up, and pressed a palm against her forehead, then let out an exasperated sigh.

"What is it, Tony?"

"I'm the one who should be asking you that question. Why are you so tense?"

Kate gave Tony a frustrated glare. "I think you should know the answer to that question."

"Fine. But you're worrying me, Kate. Don't let him get to you like that, it's going to do no good and it probably distracts you to the point where you're in even more danger. Just try not to think of him, okay?"

Kate winced at the thought of Ari, but was even more frightened at how quickly thinking of him turned into thinking of Officer David again. "That's easier said than done, DiNozzo."

"I shouldn't have brought it up, should I?"

"Probably not. Someone from Mossad stopped by and tried threaten NCIS into not killing Ari."

Tony scoffed. "Good luck with that. Who was he?"

"She," Kate corrected Tony, "Was just annoying as Haswari. Just as arrogant too. And a shameless flirt. She's talking with the director now. Maybe you'll meet her. She's the biggest reason why I'm so tense right now, someone like that is the last person I need."

Tony's eyes lit up at the word 'flirt' and his voice took on a playful tone that made Kate even more frustrated. "Shameless flirt eh, Todd?"

Kate rolled her eyes and clenched her fists in an attempt to control her growing agitation. "I'm going home, can I get through now?"

DiNozzo sighed, his expression returning to a look of weary concern. "I'm worried. You could sleep on my couch tonight, at my place just to be safe—what if he knows where you live?"

Kate stared at Tony, clearly not amused. "You want me to stay over at your place? Are you serious, DiNozzo?"

"Yes."

"No, I'm not stupid."

"But—"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tony."

Kate pushed Tony aside, entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close, refusing to look up and make eye contact with him. She knew she had hurt him, and she knew that she would regret it in the morning. At the moment though, she was too tired and upset to care.

There was no reason for Officer David to get under her skin like that, and there was no reason that she shouldn't be brushing the whole episode off. But there was something about the woman, for some reason she couldn't get over the thought of her. Kate shivered as she walked into the freezing parking garage. She thought of the warmth of Officer David's breath on her neck as she whispered into her ear, and stopped, horrified at the thought that ran through her mind. Where the hell did it come from? With great effort, she pushed it to the back of her mind and dismissed it as a product of stress and fatigue.

Kate got into her car and found herself pressing the door lock switch five times before she buckled her seat belt. Looking to the passenger seat, a wave of loneliness and anxiety ran through her. Maybe she should have gone with Tony, at least she would have someone to talk to. Kate turned the car on and began backing up when she came to the verbal realization that she had left her parking break on. She thought of the Mossad officer beside her, deep brown eyes giving her an amused look, and almost uttered a vocal response before becoming thoroughly disgusted with herself again. Tires squealed as her foot slammed against the break and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to imagine someone else in the passenger's seat, like Tony or McGee or Abby or Ducky or even Richard Nixon for God's sake, just not Ziv—she stopped herself before she could refer to the infuriating woman by her first name and sped off, turning up the radio in an attempt to drown out her thoughts.

Half an hour later, Kate pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, rushed into the building, up the stairs, and jammed the key into the lock, swinging the door open and slamming it shut. She flicked the light switch on and moved to collapse on her couch like she had been planning to, but stopped when something on the kitchen table caught her eye. Her knees buckled, the blood rushed to her head and she could feel her heartbeat in her ears. A wave of nausea overcame her and she stumbled to the table, grabbing onto it to keep from falling over, and looked down, breathing growing more ragged. In front of her was a surgical scalpel, a rose, and a note that simply read "For Caitlin".

Ari was mocking her.

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	4. The Rooftop

**Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the writing, creation, production, or distribution of NCIS. I also don't intend to make any sort of profit off of borrowing their intellectual property for this story.**

**Author's Note: This chapter is dark and a little violent, so you've been warned.**

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**Chapter 4: The Rooftop**

Ziva David knew there was a reason she put a tracking device in Ari's cell phone without telling him. Walking briskly out of the NCIS complex, she took the phone out of her pocket, flipped it open, and dialed his number. His emotionless voice sent a chill down her spine.

"Shalom, Ziva."

Ari was near a building on M Street, a few blocks away from the Navy Yard. He had told her that he would be in Maryland. "Shalom, Ari." Ziva clenched her fists and tried to mask the fear and anger in her voice. The feeling that he was betraying her trust grew stronger every day, and she knew that she was about to be pushed over the edge. "Where are you?"

"I told you where I am. Rockville. I apologize, but I will likely be late for dinner. I know it has been a long time, and I will see you later tonight or tomorrow."

Ziva muttered a quick goodbye and hung up, put the phone back in her pocket, and ran to her car. He wasn't being honest with her. The Mossad Officer shoved the keys into the ignition and slammed on the gas pedal, almost forgetting to shut the door.

Five minutes and a haphazard parking job somewhat close to a sidewalk in a not-so-parallel manner later, she got out and examined the area around her. The Israeli muttered a few choice words to herself in Hebrew—she would have to search every floor to find him. Her barely audible rant ended when she looked up and saw a figure moving on the roof twelve floors above her. Ari. She burst through the revolving door of the building and dashed toward the man at the reception desk, making an unintentional scene.

"Where are the stairs to the roof?"

The receptionist looked appalled by Ziva's demanding tone. "They're beyond the glass doors to the right. But you need Gigant-O-Corp Incorporated company identification, or permission from a high-ranking employee to go beyond the lobby, Ma'am."

Ziva leaned over the counter and lowered her voice to a threatening whisper. "I am a government agent. And do not call me ma'am."

"Uh, usually when someone claims they are a federal agent, they show their identification. And you're not, so you must think I'm stupid."

"If I showed you identification at this point, I doubt that you would believe me. I need to speak to your head of security."

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Tuesday for that, we're currently in between security contractors right now."

"Then I was right. You are stupid." Ziva moved to the double glass door and yanked on the handle, and unable to open it, shook it violently.

"You need a key card to unlock the door."

The Mossad Officer shouted in frustration before regaining her composure and returning to the desk. "We will retry this. Something very bad could happen very soon. I need to stop it. Either you let me through those doors, or I will make you let me." Ziva moved part of her jacket aside, revealing the knife at her waist. "Are we clear…" she paused and looked at his nametag, "…Howard?"

The receptionist glanced between Ziva and the knife for a few seconds, and then attempted to smile. "Of Course I'll let you in!" The forced cheer in his voice was not convincing in the slightest. "Right this way." He swiped his identification card and held the door open, making sure to avoid eye contact. The Israeli uttered a curt 'Thank You' and made her way to the stairwell.

Ziva rushed up twelve flights of stairs before stopping momentarily to stare at the steel door in front of her. The rusted barrier was the only thing that stood between her and the truth that she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She waited a few more seconds before breathing in sharply and pushing it open.

An instant later, Ziva felt someone grab her arm and whirled around, managing to break free and send a fatal kick to the head of her attacker.

A quick glance to her right told her that the man lying on the edge of the rooftop was not Ari. Her heart raced. Had she walked into a trap? The man stood and began to turn toward her. She ran forward, dove at him, and pinned him to the ground. A sniper rifle lay next to him.

Ziva's dark eyes took on a frightening intensity. "Where is Ari?"

Instead of answering her question, the sniper began to reach for the handgun at his waist. Ziva grabbed his wrist, drew her pistol, and pressed it against his chest. She spoke through her teeth, trying to refrain herself from killing him immediately. "I will ask you this again. Where is Ari?"

A faint smirk played across his face as he stared back at her, saying nothing. Ziva's rage boiled within her and she pulled the trigger, killing him. It would have been better if she had tried harder to get answers from him, but at that instant she didn't care. She would probably begin to regret it soon.

A bronze gleam caught her eye. It was the tracking chip she had put in Ari's phone. She should have known that he was too clever for that. She should have predicted that he would mislead her.

Ziva searched the man's body, desperate to find any information on Ari's location, or what he was doing in Washington, D.C. Part of her hoped that she wouldn't find anything, that everything about Ari wasn't true and he had just lied to her for a good reason, or that he wasn't lying to her at all. She removed a piece of paper from one of the inside pockets of his jacket.

She moved away from the body and sat down on the concrete. Hands shaking, Ziva looked down at the photo of the woman she had met only a few hours earlier. Special Agent Caitlin Todd. The paper listed her hobbies, appearance, date of birth, usual hangouts, and her address. The sniper was aiming at the apartment building where she lived.

Her heart sank. Ziva wished that Ari had nothing to do with the two men on the roof. She wished that the entire ordeal with terrorist accusations by the American government had never happened. And she found herself hoping that Caitlin Todd, who she logically shouldn't care about at all, was safe. As a Mossad Officer, it was weak of her to be this emotional, she wasn't supposed to be sitting around on some rooftop looking at some photograph and wishing things were different. Ziva didn't know why she did it, but she traced over the woman's outline in the picture with her thumb and noted her smile.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"I found the tracking device in my phone, Gibbs. I thought you might try something like that."

Every word Ari said made Kate want to scream, but she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. The rope dug into her wrists and she curled up in the corner of her bedroom, squeezing her eyes shut. The taste of blood in her mouth and the sensation of dizziness sickened her, and she tried to push down the hopeless feeling swelling within her. It had only been half an hour, right? Kate couldn't believe that she was careless enough to let her guard down after finding the scalpel and rose on her table. She reassured herself over and over that NCIS would find her, that Gibbs would save her. Kate was furious with herself for needing to be saved in the first place.

"…and Gibbs, when you get to Caitlin's apartment—make sure that you are alone and unarmed. I would not want to have to kill her." Ari shut Kate's cell phone and tossed it carelessly behind him. He moved toward her with his typical arrogant stride, and knelt down so he was eye level with her, propping his arm up with his rifle. "Gibbs will be here soon, Caitlin. Within minutes, I am sure."

"I hate you." Kate almost summoned the courage to spit in his face.

Ari chuckled. "I do not think you mean that."

"I mean it. I hate you. Everyone hates you."

"I can name a few people who don't."

The casual tone in his voice disgusted Kate. "I'll be glad when you die. You're despicable, you're pathetic, you're the only person who actually thinks you're worth something. Your own mother couldn't love you."

Ari's face darkened at the final sentence, and Kate gave him a victorious look. "Did I say something that upset you?"

"Yes." Ari stood up and moved beside her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Ari raise the butt of his rifle. She closed her eyes and felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. It hurt like hell, but she didn't care. Her vision began to blur as she watched Ari walk out of the room.

Several minutes later, her vision finally blacked out. The last thing she heard was a sharp knock on the door, and seconds after that, the sound of Ari's smug voice.

"How nice of you to join us, Gibbs."

Kate fell into unconsciousness.


	5. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own, and am in no way involved with the creation or production of NCIS.**

**Author's Note: Due to a fight scene, this chapter is also violent. So, you've been warned again.**

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**Chapter 5: The Truth**

"I am not Gibbs. And this is not Maryland."

Ari hadn't even bothered to watch the door open. Ziva had never been more infuriated by his usual arrogance than she was at that moment. Trying desperately to stop her hands from shaking, she raised her gun as he turned to face her.

"Ziva?" The expression on his face was the closest thing to shock that Ziva had seen from Ari in years.

"Why are you here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question." Ari's voice was cold. She didn't know him anymore.

"No. You are not the one who should be asking questions right now. Why did you tell me that you were in Maryland? You lied to me, Ari."

"Put the gun down, Ziva."

"Answer me."

"Did Gibbs tell you where I was?"

"This has nothing to do with Gibbs," Ziva said, her voice quivering. "Why are you in Agent Todd's apartment?"

It was all Ziva could do not to slap Ari when she saw the sudden gleam in his eyes and the smirk on his face. "So you've met Caitlin, Ziva?"

"I told you to answer me."

"Gibbs only wanted to meet here to negotiate. Peacefully."

Ziva didn't know if she should feel furious or heartbroken, she didn't know if she hated the man in front of her. She looked into his eyes and tried to find the Ari she knew, the one she grew up with. It was impossible. Ziva suppressed a sob and tried to rebuild the wall around her heart that was always there, the one that he was tearing down. "You are lying. Explain the sniper on the roof of the building across from this one; explain the trap you set for me with the tracking chip."

Ari crooked an eyebrow. "That was you who put it in my phone? I feel betrayed."

Ziva had to, she didn't have a choice. She had to stop caring about Ari; she had to see him as the monster that he had become. Staring into his cold eyes, she bit her lip and attempted to erase all of the memories of their childhood, she tried to separate herself from him. It frightened her to know that she could do it so easily.

Ari's voice was mocking. "Do you not trust your own brother anymore?"

Ziva holstered her gun and rushed at Ari, slamming his back against the wall and pinning him by his shoulders. "Half-Brother. Tell me the truth."

"From the moment I was born, Father raised me to be the perfect mole in Hamas. My mother was Arab. He trained me as a Mossad Agent. He sent me to medical school so I could work as a doctor in the Gaza Strip. And when he conveniently called me to Tel-Aviv for a meeting, my mother was killed in an Israeli retaliatory strike. It was on purpose. He never loved me, he only used me. But…you know how that feels, Ziva." His words caught her off guard, they cut deep.

Ziva's voice faded to a whisper. "I don't believe you."

"You wouldn't."

She cursed to herself as she felt the emotions she had pushed down rise within her again. Ziva didn't know what to believe. She didn't know who to trust, or if she could trust herself. Her father had betrayed his own son—no, he hadn't. Had he? He would never do that, it was—Ziva shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. "You never answered my question."

"I am going to kill Gibbs. And I will strike at the heart of Mossad, and Israel."

"I will not let you."

Ari twisted out of Ziva's grasp and gave her a sharp kick to the side, sending her crashing against the wall.

Regaining her balance, Ziva shoved him forward, and her foot connected with his stomach. Ari grunted and fell backward, arms flailing. A flower vase crashed to the ground as he landed on the coffee table and winced in pain.

Ziva leapt toward Ari, attempting to pin him again. Ari's knee jabbed painfully into her gut and she stumbled forward, gasping for air. She planted a hand on the coffee table and thrust her fist forward, hoping to hit him in the jaw.

Ari managed to lift himself up in time to block her next strike. He twisted Ziva's arm behind her and threw her to the ground. Her fall took Agent Todd's bookshelf with her, papers flying and books strewn across the floor.

Rolling onto her back, Ziva groaned and tried to catch her breath in the half of a second that she had. She moved her hair out of her face. Her head was reeling, she was aching already. Part of her told her to give up, she was fighting her half-brother. Ari moved closer, his hand reaching for the gun at his waist. She had to try.

Eyes flashing with anger, Ziva rose to her feet. She yanked the floor lamp out of its socket, whirled around and thrust it forward. The base of the lamp struck Ari's ankles, causing him to topple over before he could draw his gun from its holster. Ziva moved swiftly and stood over him, aiming her gun at his forehead.

Ari had the nerve to chide her. "Would you really kill your half-brother, Ziva? Has Mossad made you this cold? You are no better than I am."

Ziva involuntarily relaxed her grip on the gun and furrowed her eyebrows. Seconds ago she thought she would have been able to pull the trigger, and then Ari brought up what scared her more than anything else. He knew that it did, too. She glanced away and lowered her gun. Ziva tried to tell herself that she wasn't some heartless murderer, but for some reason Ari's words made her begin to believe that it was true. Her voice came out lower than she had expected. "Ari, I do not know what to say to—"

Ari stood up and grabbed Ziva's wrist, yanking the gun from her hand and pointing it at her, poised to shoot. "I did not think you were this weak, Ziva."

Her eyes widened as Ari began to pull the trigger.

Ziva kicked his hand away, breaking his aim. The bullet stung as it grazed her cheek. She grabbed his arm, took her weapon back, and knocked him to the ground once more, pressing her foot against his chest with her pistol drawn at him. Ziva couldn't stop her eyes from filling with tears. "I trusted you."

Ari's gaze met Ziva's, his dark eyes filled with nothing but contempt. "I did not think it would end like this."

"I did not either." Ziva pulled the trigger. A wave of nausea and sorrow overcame her. She had killed her half-brother.

"Officer David?"

Gibbs stood in the doorway.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Kate opened her eyes to white overload. The walls, the ceiling, the tile on the floor—everything was white. She was lying in a bed, apparently—oh, and the sheets and excuse for a blanket were white too. A sharp pain shot through the back of her head and she winced. Crap, she was in a hospital. She groaned as she saw Tony practically leap from his chair and rush to her bedside.

"Don't give me that look, Todd. You're alive! You should be happy. I'm happy. See?" Tony smiled at Kate. "Be happy."

"I feel like crap, DiNozzo."

"But you're alive!"

Kate closed her eyes and tried to fight off a spell of dizziness. "Are you the only one who decided to visit me or is Gibbs hiding behind the—"

Her voice was cut off by an elated squeal from down the hallway. Abby ran toward Kate as fast as she possibly could in platform boots and threw her arms around her. "Oh my god Kate, you're okay! We were so worried! Well, Gibbs didn't show it as much as everyone else but you could definitely tell he was upset. That's how worried we were. Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

"Ari hit me in the back of a head with the butt of his rifle."

"Yeah, well Ari's dead now Kate." Gibbs entered the room; and the sound of his exhausted voice came as an immense relief to Kate. He had managed to get the bastard.

Abby finally ended the hug and moved aside. Gibbs looked down at Kate. "I don't need to see you at work for the next week."

"You know that won't happen."

Gibbs shot Kate a slight smile. "I know."

"You're a workaholic." McGee set a bouquet of flowers on the nightstand. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

"Yes, well we were all worried about that Agent McGee." Ducky motioned for Gibbs to step aside and placed a box of chocolates on Kate's lap. "These always cheer Mother up whenever she's feeling a little under the weather. Now, I recommend that you don't eat them all at once. You know, this reminds me of when I was in Barcelona undercover as a street vendor. It's an interesting story, actually—"

Gibbs cut off Ducky's anecdote. "I think we should let Kate get some rest if she's going to insist on going to work within the week."

"Yes, well I—"

"You can finish it later, Ducky."

Gibbs seemed to linger as the others shuffled out of the room, and Kate decided to take the opportunity to say something to him. She took a deep breath; it was difficult to find the words that actually showed how she felt.

"Gibbs."

"Yeah?"

Kate spoke softly. "Thank you for finally killing him, and for saving my life."

"That's what I wrote in the reports."

His cryptic answer confused Kate, but she told herself that she was too out of it to try to figure out what he meant. She dismissed it as something that Gibbs would typically say, and gave him a weak smile.

"Good night, Kate."

"I'll see you right after they let me out of here."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and moved toward the door, "They won't be letting you out as soon as you'd like." He stopped to look back at Kate one last time. "Oh, and your living room is a mess."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: I actually updated within a few days! It'll probably take a little longer for the next one, but at least I didn't leave things up in the air for a week. Writing my first fight scene was fun.**

**I love feedback, so feel free to review.**


	6. Reassignment

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I in any way involved with the production of it.**

**Author's Note: Think of this chapter as the beginning of Act II. Now that the first climax (Act I) of the story is over, more focus will be put on Kiva type developments. It will still be more gradual than most stories though, so I recommend being patient with me.**

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**Chapter 6: Reassignment**

Kate hadn't been to work since Friday. Missing a few work days to recover from head trauma and stress in general probably wasn't a bad thing, but she hated being forced to sit around the house with nothing to do. Gibbs had decided to petition Jenny to prevent her from entering NCIS until Thursday, which was endlessly frustrating.

Maybe she was a little bit overeager, but there wasn't anything else she could think of to do at 5:30 AM on a Thursday, so she decided to go in for work a little early. Fine, an hour and a half early, the sun hadn't even risen yet, but she woke up at one and couldn't get back to sleep.

Kate didn't expect to see _her_ sitting at the previously empty desk in the bullpen. Officer David was the last person that she wanted to deal with. It didn't even make any sense; she should be back in Israel. Kate shouldn't have to think about Ari, she shouldn't have to think about Mossad, and most important—she shouldn't have to think about the dark-haired woman sitting in front of her. It figured—when she finally got the woman out of her head she had the nerve to show up at NCIS again without warning. Kate strode over, stood in front of her, and looked down at the other woman in disbelief. "Why are you here?"

Officer David's voice was empty. "I have been reassigned to NCIS as a Liaison Officer."

Kate rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure if I believe you. Want to give me a good reason why Mossad suddenly feels the need to have one of their own working with us after one of our agents killed one of your agents?"

The Israeli almost seemed to wince at Kate's last sentence. "I did not want to return to Tel-Aviv."

What kind of excuse was that? Kate crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I don't know why you don't want to, I wish you would. I really do, Officer David. When Ari died, this whole thing with Mossad should have died too. But for some reason your organization still feels the need to get involved with our problems, and if that doesn't sound suspicious to you then…"

"It is good to know that you are well, Agent Todd." Kate detected the faintest trace of concern in the Mossad Officer's voice.

"Who told you I wasn't?"

Officer David said nothing and their eyes met. Kate couldn't break away from her gaze. She was different from the woman that she met six days ago. Dark circles had formed around her now dull eyes, her lips were expressionless; she looked exhausted. At that moment, no matter how much Kate tried, she found herself unable to hate Ziva—no, her name was Officer David.

Kate attempted to speak in the sternest tone she could muster, but her voice came out as a whisper. "How did you know?"

"I read the reports."

"You read the reports."

"I…am sorry."

Kate felt her defenses weaken. Part of her told her to sit down next to Ziv—she stopped herself before she could think of the woman as having a first name—and tell her that it was okay, that she forgave her. The other half fought back. It was easier not to trust her than it was to trust her. "Officer David, I don't need sympathy. I don't want sympathy. Just stay out of it all. You know what, just—I'm done with this right now. I'm getting coffee."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Ziva had to pull herself together. How long had it been? It was hard to tell when she wasn't getting any sleep. She looked at the calendar on her new desk and counted forward from Friday. Almost a week. Six days, and she was still in pieces. What would her father say? She didn't want to think about her father, not after what Ari had told her—no, she shouldn't believe Ari, he was a terrorist. It shouldn't matter if he was her half-brother; a terrorist is a terrorist and protecting her country should never hurt like that.

But it did. Ziva clutched the Star of David pendant on her necklace and rubbed her eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have asked to be reassigned to a position working with NCIS, but she couldn't go back to Israel. Things could work out, Jenny was the director and—she knew she was lying to herself. When Ziva was given a choice between NCIS and the US Army CID, she thought of Agent Todd.

It made no sense to her at all. Maybe it was because Ziva felt like she had to make it up to her—for everything Ari had done, for defending Ari, for not believing NCIS in the first place, for irritating her in the bullpen when they first met. Or maybe because she couldn't stop thinking about her eyes, or her hair, or her voice or her—

That was nonsense. Ziva David did not get crushes.

It was 7:00 and Kate hadn't returned yet. She had left shortly after 5:30; coffee usually doesn't take an hour and a half. Ziva sighed, she had scared her off.

The elevator doors opened and Ziva looked up, Gibbs had finally arrived. Did everyone show up so late? She moved over to greet him and outstretched her hand, forcing a smile.

"Shalom, Gibbs. I am looking forward to joining your team."

Like last time, he didn't shake her hand. Gibbs took a long drink of his coffee and gave Ziva a strange look.

"I…The Director did not tell you?"

"Nope."

She handed the assignment papers to Gibbs, who glanced at them briefly and dropped them on his desk before turning to Ziva again. "Don't get comfortable. I'm going to talk to the director about this. Oh, and you look awful. Have you slept at all in the past week, Ziva?" He walked off to MTAC before she could respond.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note #2: So I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but I didn't feel like it should be very long.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!**


	7. Limits and Boundaries

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I involved with the production of it. I do not intend to somehow find a way to procure money from writing this fanfic either.**

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**Chapter 7: Limits and Boundaries**

Ziva had been at NCIS for a week and a day. Maybe a week and a day wasn't enough time for them to trust her, but it still hurt when everyone tried to pretend she wasn't there.

The worst part was Kate. She didn't know if she should be smitten by her—which was ridiculous, Ziva David was never smitten by anyone—or fed up with her. It was always something with Kate. Ziva would look at her the wrong way, or stand too close to her; or talk to her, or go so far as to smile at her, or—

Sometimes it was hard not to smile at Kate.

No, there was nothing to like about Agent Todd, she had to stop. Ziva bit her lip and grabbed a notepad and the nearest pen on her desk, then began to write in Hebrew: "I am not attracted to her" over and over.

She had covered three pages when an irate voice interrupted her furious scribbling. Ziva sighed; it was Kate, upset with her about something again.

"Officer David, what are you doing with my pen? I can't believe that you would just—you know what, at this point I do believe it—you just walk over to my desk and steal my pen, and it's an expensive pen, and have the nerve to use it right in front of me! Were you even planning on returning it?" Kate yanked the pen from Ziva's hand.

Ziva had her limits; and even Kate could cross them. She hit her hand on the desk and stood up, glaring at the other woman. "I did not steal this pen from your desk, I found it on mine!"

"So my pen just magically flew over to your desk?"

"That is as good an explanation as any."

"What if I took something from _your _desk, Officer David?" Kate grabbed her notepad and ripped out a page, tossing it in the air.

Ziva moved to where Kate stood, grabbed her wrist, and locked eyes with her. "Give the notepad back to me."

Kate ripped out another sheet of paper.

Ziva stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her other arm, she was only inches away from the Agent Todd. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop her heart from racing, the blood rushing to her head. Kate's infuriated glare and her breath on Ziva's skin. She was on the verge of giving in, hoping more than anything that it didn't show. "I told you," her whisper was weaker than she would have liked, "to give it to me."

Kate gave her a challenging look. "Take it."

"Agent Todd! Officer David!"

The two women broke away from each other and turned to face Gibbs, who stared at them with a mixture of shock and irritation. "I'm going to give you two the benefit of the doubt and let you resolve whatever this is on your own time. We have a ship with a dead sailor aboard. DiNozzo and McGee have been waiting in the truck for fifteen minutes."

Her head spun, she was losing it. Whatever was happening within her hadn't happened before, it shouldn't happen, she shouldn't be letting it happen. Ziva had to do something; she had to stop it somehow. The elevator doors closed, and she stared at Kate out of the corner of her eye.

Ziva made plans.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Kate couldn't stop herself from sighing in irritation at Gibbs. "Are you insane?"

"I asked you to go search the cabins on the lower deck with Officer David. She's already there, and you aren't."

"Fine."

"You're not going to have any problems with Officer David on this case."

Kate said nothing and made her way below deck. She couldn't wait for Officer David's term at NCIS to expire so she could go back to Israel, or at least somewhere far away. Then she wouldn't have to think about her, or deal with her, or worry about the looks she always got from her, or the way she talked to her, or pen stealing or…

Part of her asked why she hated her at all. Tony did everything she did and more. Kate groaned. Finding the motivation and reason not to like her was more difficult than she had expected.

By the time Kate had arrived, Officer David had already bagged and tagged several pieces of potential evidence. She noticed the way the Israeli furrowed her brow in concentration, and the way she bit her lip, and the way she walked, her poise, she was more graceful than Kate wanted to admit and—Since when did she daydream about people she couldn't stand?—Ziva's hand on her arm in the bullpen and her unreadable eyes and—

"Are you going to help, or are you going to stare at me?" Officer David's smirk was enough of a reason to dislike her again. "Take these to Gibbs, Kate."

"Call me Agent Todd. And I wasn't staring at you, Officer David."

"How disappointing," The other woman shoved the evidence into Kate's arms, "I was almost hoping you were."

"I…What…? Was that supposed to mean?" It terrified Kate to realize that blood was rushing to her cheeks.

Officer David whispered; her lips uncomfortably close to Kate's ear. "You are blushing."

"No, I'm not. And you're violating my boundaries." She felt the heat rise in her face even more and took a deep breath. Why was she getting to her like this?

The Israeli let out a soft laugh and began to walk out of the room, purposely brushing past her.

Kate grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her back. "You can't just walk off whenever you want, Officer David."

"I was going to go see how DiNozzo and McGee are doing," she replied, nonchalant. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"You're assigned here."

She hated it when their eyes met, but she refused to back down and look away. Several seconds of staring into her eyes while trying not to slap the smug look off of her face later, Officer David stiffened and broke free of her grip. "Stay here."

"Why?"

The look in the other woman's eyes was the closest thing to panic that Kate had seen from her. Officer David pushed her aside rushed out of the cabin. Landing just short of a cabin bunk, Kate winced as the side of the bed dug into her ribs. What the hell was her problem this time? She stood up and groaned.

Three gunshots; Kate moved into the corridor with her gun drawn. Officer David stood over the body of a sailor while Tony and McGee stared at her in shock.

Tony looked to the body and then back to Officer David. "Whoa, nice shot there."

Kate rolled her eyes at Tony. She could have made the shot.

"Wow, thanks Ziva; that was amazing! How did you know he was there? Weren't you in another room with Kate?" For some reason, McGee's gratitude was especially irritating.

"I do not know why I would not save you, Agent McGee. Does this mean we have found the killer, then?"

Being anywhere near the Mossad Officer had become unbearable. What kind of response was that? No 'you're welcome, McGee'? Kate could have saved them, if Officer David wasn't arrogant enough to think that she would be of better use just crouching by a bed somewhere. It was useless standing around anyway, Gibbs needed the evidence. She left before she had to hear anymore from her.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: It's finally warmed up some and I can go outside. The frequency at which I update might slow a little bit because of that. The temperature had been hovering around 0 degrees for the past week, so I had more time to write.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!**


	8. Images

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of NCIS, nor am I responsible for the creation and production of it. If I was, things would clearly have turned out differently.**

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**Chapter 8: Images**

All the stress and 'excitement' of having to deal with Officer David's awkward and offensive (Kate made a point of emphasizing the latter) advances as well as the almost disastrous investigation on the Navy Ship had caused her to forget that it was the last Friday of the month. DiNozzo managed to remind her by loudly announcing that it was her turn to pay for drinks. Maybe the monthly outing with her, McGee, Tony, and Abby would serve as some form of relief.

Kate arrived at the bar a few minutes early and slid into a nearby booth. Resting her head against the wall, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Images of Officer David flickered through her mind—smiling at Kate, smirking at her, confronting her, whispering in her ear, looking into her eyes—if she couldn't close her eyes without seeing the woman, she needed serious help.

Some minutes later, the sound of Tony's voice yanked her back to reality. "Feeling sleepy, Kate?"

"No, I'm just stressed out."

"Kate Todd stressed out? That's a new one." Tony fell into the booth seat across from her and propped his feet up on the cushion. "At least you didn't almost get shot earlier. I could have died, Kate. What would you do without me?"

McGee sat in the seat across from Kate. "Give her a break, Tony. Abby should be here any second now."

"So you guys didn't invite Officer David?" Her tone was probably too enthusiastic.

Tony shot her a strange look. "We did. Did the mean ol' Officer David upset little Kate Todd again?"

"Shut up, DiNozzo."

"Kids these days, when will they learn any respect for—"

"Why would you invite that woman? I really don't need to deal with her right now."

"Aw, give her a chance Kate," Abby sat beside her and gave her a quick hug, "She saved Tony and McGee's life. Besides, if you're worried about what I think you are, you shouldn't. You'll always be our favorite."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I just don't trust her. Look, she comes in and tries to stop us from killing Ari, and has mocked me and…I just don't want to deal with her right now. She stole my favorite pen DiNozzo; she used it right in front of me, and had the nerve to act as if I was the one in the wrong. Officer David is the most irritating, despicable woman that I have had the opportunity to—"

"Before you go any further off the deep end," Tony added, "I should probably tell you that she told us she had made plans already. Oh, and I was the one who stole your pen."

"You stole my pen. And decided to drop it on Officer David's desk?"

"Kate, that's all in the past. I think we should move on."

"It was only this morning, DiNozzo. I had an argument with her over something that you—I'm not even going to acknowledge this anymore. I'm glad she's not coming. Don't invite her again."

"Uh…we were actually planning on it." McGee's voice wavered as he flinched in anticipation of Kate's response. He hesitated before continuing when she said nothing. "It's the polite thing to do."

"I can't believe you guys have warmed up to her so quickly."

"We kind of can't believe you haven't, I mean she's tried to be nice to you." Kate didn't need McGee trying to lecture her about who she should and shouldn't trust.

"No, she hasn't. I don't want to talk about it. Let's change the subject."

Tony peeked over the menu he was holding. "How many hot wings do we want?"

**אאאאאאאאאא**

An hour after everyone else left, Kate still sat at the booth looking at the other patrons disinterestedly. Her eyes ran across a dark-haired woman sitting in the corner, facing the wall.

Officer David was slumped over the table, nursing a martini and looking completely miserable. It made sense that no one noticed her; she looked just like every other worn-down, drunken barfly brooding over one thing or another. Except she was different, far more attractive, no—beautiful, no—gorgeous, no—she wasn't appealing at all. Just as repulsive as the completely wasted guys with the greasy hair and stained, grungy clothing that occupied the rest of the joint.

Kate bit her lip. One half of her fought desperately to find a reason to be furious with Officer David. The other half kept telling her to stop, give it up already. To accept her, she wanted to, she didn't want to at all. She should be upset, right?

An irresistible impulse within Kate forced her to move toward the other woman and sit in the chair across from her.

It was as if the Israeli didn't even know she was there before Kate grabbed the drink from her hand. Officer David looked up at her, the vaguest gleam of irritation in her distant eyes.

"I would like that back, Caitlin."

The cold in her voice stung. Kate clung onto her tone, the way she called her Caitlin, how she lied to Tony and McGee. But she couldn't let go of how vulnerable she looked at that moment. "Don't call me that. Ever. This doesn't look like 'plans' to me, Officer David."

"How did you find me?"

"We were sitting over there." Kate motioned toward the booth on the other side of the bar.

"I did not know you were going to this bar."

"Why did you lie?"

Officer David managed to snatch the drink back after a few moments of struggling over it, then downed the rest of the liquor in the glass. "I did not think you wanted me around, so I declined the invitation."

Kate grabbed the other woman by her collar, pulled her out of the chair, and pinned her against the wall by her shoulders. Officer David didn't resist. "That's it? That's your crappy excuse for lying to them? I don't know what the hell your problem is, but—"

"No, I do not know what yours is. Is it because I am Mossad? Is it because you are afraid of change? Or is it because Ari was my half-brother, and I remind you of him and you can never trust me?"

The blood rushed to Kate's head, and she stood staring at the other woman with her mouth open, and found that she suddenly lacked the ability to form coherent words. She probably looked ridiculous. But it made sense; why Officer David reminded her of…_him._

Attempting to pull herself together, Kate planned a long rant about honesty, trust, conflict of interest, and major security breaches. But the way her actual response turned out just made her feel like an idiot. "Ari. He was your half—what?"

Officer David tried to avoid Kate's gaze. "I… should not have said that."

"I don't know what to say."

Something within Kate told her that it would be logical to never trust her, but Kate looked down at the woman in front of her, and she knew she was nothing like Ari. Officer David was nothing like anyone, and it was why she couldn't stop thinking about her.

"I am sorry. For what he…I am sorry." She could have sworn that she saw Officer David's lower lip tremble, and Kate realized how painful it was to know that the woman in front of her was hurting.

Surrender.

Kate let go of the last remnants of anger and spite within her. Heart racing, she felt the sweat on her palms as she touched the Israeli's arm, it was as if the bar and all of its raucous noise had vanished, and the only thing that mattered was Officer David.

No, her name was Ziva.

And there Ziva was, blaming herself when it would be just as easy to blame Kate.

"Don't apologize."

"I should have known."

She lifted the Ziva's chin with her fingers and gazed into her eyes. "It's okay."

Her hand was on Ziva's cheek, she didn't remember placing it there. The strange part was that she didn't want to take it away.

Kate moved in closer and found herself wrapping her arms around the other woman; she didn't know what the hell she was doing, and didn't care. "It's not your fault." The alcohol on Ziva's shallow breath, her heartbeat, the feeling in her stomach, her hand on the other woman's cheek; the pictures, ideas, thoughts of everything she wanted to say to her and all the words she couldn't find. She gazed at the Israeli through half-shut eyelids. "I'm giving you a ride home."

Ziva stared at Kate with the most dumbfounded expression on her face. "To…my apartment? Or yours?"

Kate's lips brushed against hers. "Pick one."

It wasn't what she expected. Kate would rather have been slapped in the face fifty times over, as long as Ziva didn't do what she did next. She broke away from Kate. Her voice was too stern. "No."

Images. Ziva's whisper, "Shalom, Kate". Her somehow graceful stride out of the bar. Kate pushing her way through the crowd to catch her. Ziva disappearing down the street.

Agent Todd closed her eyes and leaned against the building's brick façade, and again images of Officer David ran through her mind, like some old depressing movie, playing over and over, and she couldn't turn it off.

The cold that wrapped around her felt nothing like Ziva.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: To clear up some potential confusion about the random way I chose to format the story, the row of parenthesis indicates change in POV, while the row of א's denotes a time difference without a change in POV. That probably would have confused me if I was reading my story, so I figured I should probably explain it.**

**I chose not to include Ziva's POV in this one, because sometimes I think it isn't as fun if all the questions are answered immediately.**

**Thanks to all who have reviewed! I enjoy reading them.**


	9. Stakeout

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I in any way involved with the production or distribution of it.**

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**Chapter 9: Stakeout**

Ziva couldn't remember if she slept at all during the weekend, she only remembered realizing that it was 4:00 am on Monday morning and she still hadn't stopped thinking about Kate.

She wondered if she looked as tired and miserable as the man behind the counter at the coffee shop. Ziva practically collapsed onto one of the sofas and sent a quick glance toward the clock on the wall. 4:30 in the morning, too early to call it a long day.

It wasn't supposed to happen. Kate wasn't supposed to do…that. Ziva could tell that the other woman felt something, whatever it was, she felt something, and she had to push her away. She had been arrogant, obnoxious, offensive, and flirtatious. And she was Ari's half-sister. But the whole incident at the bar still happened, she almost lost it, she nearly broke down, she was weak, and she spent the entire weekend trying to forget about it.

Ziva gave herself a hateful round of applause for her success in walking away from Kate.

The coffee was bitter and tasted awful, but she felt like drinking it black. She curled up on the couch and laid her head on the armrest. Closing her eyes, Ziva held back the sob forming in her throat and thought of Kate's lips brushing against hers. Thinking about her was the closest she would let herself get to Agent Todd.

"Officer David."

Her eyelids fluttered open. Kate sat on the couch across from Ziva and stared back at her, lips pursed.

"You didn't answer my calls, Officer David. I was worried. It's a stupid idea for anyone—especially you of all people—to drive drunk."

Ziva decided that the best option was to say nothing.

"You're just going to sit there ignoring me. I don't know what to say to you."

"Then do not say anything." Ziva closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Kate leaving. There was no comfort in telling herself that pushing the other woman away was the right thing to do, but she knew it was.

Ziva David was Mossad, she didn't know how to love someone—she wasn't supposed to love someone—she was probably going to die before the age of 30, and she knew that eventually, somehow, she would hurt Kate Todd. So she made plans. To push her away, even if it meant making the other woman hate her.

But being inches away from Kate at the bar almost made Ziva give up, she hated that sometimes she wanted her more than anything. She had to try harder.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Sometimes Kate thought that Gibbs got a kick out of putting her in terrible situations. What in God's name was there to gain from sticking her in a car with Ziva for some stakeout that would have been much easier if it were Tony or McGee sitting in the passenger's seat? But no, that would be too easy. This was a 'team-building exercise'.

After four hours of waiting in silence and staring into darkness, Kate felt like they were less of a team than they were when they started. A difficult thing to accomplish, but Ziva managed to pull it off with flying colors.

For the past hour and a half, Kate had done everything to try and evoke a reaction from the other woman shy of shaking her violently and slapping her on the cheek. But the Israeli sat with her forehead pressed against the glass, refusing to take her eyes off of the cookie-cutter house across the street as if it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. The closest thing to any sort of response was when Ziva turned the radio off after Kate tuned in to the nearest talk station and just happened to accidentally turn the volume up as loud as possible. That was forty-five minutes ago.

Was it weird that she was keeping track? Probably. Ziva sighed fifteen minutes ago. Okay, it was weird. But it wasn't as if there was anything else to do.

Kate cleared her throat for the umpteenth time that night. "If you see something, you're going to tell me—right?"

She wasn't surprised that Ziva didn't respond, but her silence shot a pang through her heart anyway. "I'm going to take that as a yes."

Seven minutes later, nothing. "You haven't said anything this entire time, this is ridiculous. It's been over four hours. We're a team here, right?"

Four minutes, and Ziva said nothing. "Is this about Friday, or this morning? Or do you just feel like confusing the hell out of me?"

Kate sighed and stared at the clock for another two minutes, it was 11:00 at night. As much as she tried to will herself to keep her eyes facing forward, she couldn't stop herself from sending a glance toward Ziva. A chill ran through her when she saw a single glistening tear on her cheek. The Israeli didn't seem to notice it. If she did, she clearly didn't care. Kate realized how little she knew about the person that she was falling in love with.

That was probably the most ridiculous thing that had ever crossed her mind. There was a clear difference between a little crush—it probably wasn't even that, right?—and something as dramatic as falling helplessly in love with someone.

But she couldn't let go of the sight of the tear on the other woman's cheek. Kate's hand moved to grasp hers. She traced a pattern on her palm with her thumb. "Ziva."

"I…I said no. At the bar. Friday." Her whisper was weak and labored; words tumbling clumsily out of her mouth in choked, disjointed stutters.

"I know." Kate felt Ziva squeeze her hand and lace her fingers with her own. It took an incredible amount of willpower not to smile at the woman sitting across from her. "Are you saying no now?"

Ziva's dark eyes met hers for the briefest moment, and drifted away again. Kate bit her lip and tried desperately to think of something to say. She let out a soft groan when the Israeli pulled her hand away.

"There is movement near the side of the house." Whatever emotion was in Ziva's voice before had disappeared completely.

What was wrong with her? Kate was screaming at herself inside her head. It was obvious that whatever she was trying to do with Ziva could only end in disaster. There was no reason to have feelings for her; there wasn't even a reason to be her friend. But she wanted to be.

She wanted to be more than that.

It almost made less sense than Ziva did. If Kate was like any sane person, she shouldn't be able to stand the other woman, much less want to pin her against the nearest wall and kiss her senseless every time she saw her. The woman was unpredictable, confusing, irritating, rude, and it seemed like she did it all on purpose.

Maybe it was in her eyes.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: Merry Christmas Eve and Christmas. Not confident with this one at all, but I wanted to post it anyway for some reason.**

**So I know this chapter was short and you may or may not be ready to strangle me because I enjoy taking my merry time with things, but bear with me, we're almost there.**

**Also, Snow! I'm excited. It looks like God spilled a giant glitter bottle everywhere when making Christmas cards for everyone. Snow isn't usually so pretty in this part of the state.**

**Thanks to all who have reviewed, I enjoy reading them! Feel free to review again, I love feedback.**


	10. Lust

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I in any way involved with the production or distribution of it.**

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**Chapter 10: Lust**

Two weeks later, it had become apparent that the only useful information they gathered from the stakeout was that the sprinkler systems in the neighborhood were set to go off at 11:15 pm.

In the fourteen days since then—and more important, her second near-breakdown—Ziva had managed to say no more than 100 words to Kate. That was 250 less than the goal she had set for herself, though keeping track of everything she said was getting tiresome.

Ziva finished making note of their most recent exchange on pieces of scrap paper stapled together, writing down and counting every word said by either of them, and adding their number to a tally at the bottom of the page. She looked over the records once more, the faintest satisfied smile on her face, and pushed them aside.

Kate was focused intently on the computer screen, furrowing her eyebrows. The Israeli felt her eyes glaze over, Kate was perfect. Ziva…wasn't. She had proven it too, somewhere under the amassing stack of paperwork on her desk was a sheet of paper where she had written down everything bad about herself and everything good about Kate and she couldn't stand to look at it because she believed that it was completely true.

Several minutes of staring had passed—had it been several minutes? She had no idea and didn't really care—when Kate accidentally knocked the mug off of her table, spilling coffee all over the floor and her blouse. Someone let out a girlish giggle.

Her eyes widened and she looked down, trying to avoid any attention from Kate. Was she the one who giggled? Ziva David never giggled. But they were the only ones in the bullpen, and the other woman was glaring at her. Not a good sign.

An exasperated look on her face, Kate strode over to Ziva's desk and planted her palms on it, leaning in close to her. She had to stop herself from closing her eyes and smiling at the feel of Kate's breath on her cheek.

"What? You've been staring at me for the past fifteen minutes. Are you going to say anything or are you just going to laugh at me?"

She tried to think of some kind of rebuttal, but Ziva found herself unable to do anything but give her a stupid look.

Kate's eyes drifted toward the scrap paper next to Ziva, her voice grew soft and confused. "What is…Officer David, you've been recording and…counting? Our conversations."

Ziva grabbed the paper, shoved it in a desk drawer, and decided that the best option was to give Kate a nasty glare. "I would have written it in Hebrew, but there would be a different number of words."

"What the hell? Did you _want_ me to see this just to irritate me?"

Of all the ideas Ziva had come up with to push Kate away, that wasn't one of them. "Yes."

Infuriated, Kate hit the Israeli's desk with her hand and looked away from her.

"This is my desk, control your anger."

Kate laughed cynically. "Oh, of course you're one to talk Officer…," her voice trailed off as she glanced at a notepad on the desk, then looked up at Ziva again, giving her a stare so frightening that she almost broke the act she was trying to pull off. "Did you do this to piss me off, too?" She grabbed the notepad and shoved it in the Mossad Officer's face. The sketch of Kate sitting at her desk couldn't catch how cute she looked—Ziva had drawn the picture without even realizing it. She was losing her mind.

"I did not do that."

"The pencil is still in your hand, Officer David. I swear to god, if we weren't coworkers—and I use that term lightly—I would slap you."

A suggestive smile spread across Ziva's face as she stood up, her lips inches away from Kate's ear, her voice lowered to a whisper. "I do not know, I think I might enjoy that."

Kate spoke through clenched teeth. "I can't believe you. I really can't."

The Israeli sat down and chuckled, twirling the pencil between her fingers.

"So do you two have confrontations at this desk for fun now? This is like, the fifth time." As usual, Tony felt the need to make his entrance known as soon as possible.

"It is the sixth time. Kate has started them all."

"No, Officer David, you've started them all."

Ziva took the opportunity to smirk at the other woman.

"It's good to know that you two keep track."

The glare Kate gave Tony was enough to make him shut up and walk back over to his desk. She turned toward the Israeli, weariness lining her voice. "I don't want to hear anything from, or talk to you for the rest of the day."

"I am okay with that."

The two locked eyes for a brief moment, and Kate turned away.

**אאאאאאאאאא**

Even though the work day ended three hours before, Ziva stayed at NCIS to catch up on paperwork. The unfortunate (and fortunate) part was that Kate had the same idea.

Kate also had the idea to leave at exactly the same time as Ziva.

The Mossad Officer walked into the elevator and sighed, she was tired, she wanted to get back to her apartment; she couldn't get out of the building fast enough. It surprised her when Kate stopped the doors from closing. "I did not think you wanted to talk to me." The other woman said nothing and entered the elevator. Ziva shifted and took a deep breath. "I was correct then."

Kate's hand slammed against the stop button and she turned toward Ziva, eyes blazing with an intensity that the other woman hadn't seen—or expected to see—from her.

"So, you are angry with me."

"How oblivious can you possibly get?" Kate's voice lowered to a whisper. "I want a yes or no answer, Ziva." The steel handrail pressed against her back and Ziva wondered when she let the other woman pin her into a corner.

A chill ran down her spine, the rhythm of Kate's breath on her neck sent her into a trance. She was losing control. No, she had already lost control. She lost it three weeks before, when she met Kate. "I…I do not understand."

"I know you understand."

Ziva tried to lift her head and regain what little composure she could possibly have at that moment. It was difficult when the only thing she could think about was the look on Kate's face as she demanded an answer from her. She had no idea what Kate was asking her—that was a lie, she knew what the other woman wanted. And it scared her. Ziva David wasn't supposed to be afraid, but she was and that scared her too—but the most terrifying thing was the possibility that she would say yes, and mess everything up entirely.

Summoning every amount of emotional strength within her—there wasn't much of it at all anymore—she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "No." Ziva looked down. "That is my answer."

"No. Really. You're telling me no, but you're stroking my arm."

She lowered her hand instantly. Missing that major detail finally convinced her that she was crazy. Like the whole incident with the notepad that morning—was it that morning or the day before? Maybe it happened tomorrow. That last part made no sense. It was impossible to think straight—she hadn't even noticed that she was doing it. "I…you had lint and…"

"I don't get you, Ziva."

Ziva's eyes met Kate's.

Kate's lips pressed against hers.

Whatever was left of Ziva's world fell apart in a flurry of passion.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Lips locked and an arm wrapped around the other woman's waist, Kate fumbled for the key in her pocket, jammed it into the lock, and they stumbled into her apartment. She dragged the Israeli by her wrist into the bedroom and pushed her onto the bed. Everything around the woman lying below her seemed to blur. Her thoughts shifted back and forward between Ziva—parted lips, dark eyes, hand gripping Kate's wrist—and what was going to happen after that moment. Kate still didn't want to feel whatever it was she was feeling about Ziva, but she did and she couldn't stop. "We can't let anyone know about this."

Ziva nodded and tried to force a nervous smile.

**אאאאאאאאאא**

Kate tried to comfort herself by mentally repeating that her feelings for Officer David were only lust, that there wasn't anything more than some foolish physical attraction to the gorgeous woman whose arms were wrapped around her body.

But it was so easy to want to stay like that forever.

Ziva mumbled against her lips. The words sounded like something she didn't want to hear, or deal with, or think about. So she said nothing. But the Israeli pulled away from Kate and gave her a look that told her she expected an answer.

"I don't know." Kate reached for Ziva's hand, but the other woman pulled it away and left the bed.

After Ziva finished getting dressed, she turned to look at Kate. The hurt in her eyes made her cringe.

"Ziva."

She said nothing, but didn't leave. Kate couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not, she continued anyway. "Stay."

Ziva sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from her, voice unreadable. "Okay.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: Happy New Year! I celebrated it by doing nothing different than what I normally do. I hope you all had a good one, too.  
**

**Finally something happens between Kate and Ziva. This chapter took a little longer than I had expected. Writer's block is an awful thing, isn't it?**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I enjoy reading them and they make my day.**


	11. Something

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I in any way involved in the production or distribution of it.**

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**Chapter 11: Something**

There was no one lying next to Kate.

Ziva was there when she fell asleep. Kate closed her eyes and hit her fist against the pillow. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did she always mess things up? What was she going to do? Sleep with Ziva, end it there, and expect everything to be fine at work the next day? Apparently. Sometimes she hated herself.

"_Does this mean that we are together?"_

"_I don't know."_

It took more than a little willpower to get out of bed. Kate winced as her eyes adjusted to the light.

The light was on. And Kate smelled coffee.

"You are up late."

Ziva hadn't left. She was curled up at the end of the couch with one of Kate's coffee mugs.

"It's only 4:30. And you've made yourself at home." Kate sat on the other end of the sofa, knees tucked under her chin. Ziva's eyes told her that she still wanted an answer, an explanation. It was something she couldn't give her, she didn't know what the hell she was thinking in the elevator, she didn't know what the hell she was thinking last night, and she didn't know if she wanted the woman that she knew almost nothing about, or if she wanted her to leave.

Kate should have made up her mind by now. "I'm surprised you're still here."

"I am too."

"You don't have to stay, Ziva."

"I know." A strand of dark hair fell in Ziva's face, and Kate resisted the urge to crawl over to the other woman and brush it behind her ear.

Hands clasped against her lips, Kate studied the woman in front of her, and as usual, couldn't read the expression on her face. "So you want to stay." Her words sounded more like a question than she would have liked.

"I want to know what we are. Am I supposed to forget about last night, and the bar, and the stakeout; were you just looking for a…single-night…one-time…" A sad smile spread across Kate's lips as she watched the other woman, brow furrowed over dark eyes looking into the coffee cup, trying to remember the phrase 'one-night stand'. "…stand-up…" She looked at Kate, and it was impossible for her to break away from Ziva's lonely stare. The Israeli spoke in a disheartened whisper. "The one where it means nothing."

Kate moved toward Ziva, took the mug from her hand and placed it on the end table behind her. "It means something."

Gazing at her through half-shut eyelids, Ziva placed a hand on the back of Kate's neck and pulled her closer; voice laced with desire. "I want to know what."

She looked down at Ziva and the heat rose to her cheeks, her breath grew slower, louder, her heart beat faster, and she lost control again.

The second—Or third, or fourth? Sixteenth, seventeenth, sixty-seventh? The night before was a blur—time their lips met was the first time they kissed. The one in the elevator didn't matter, or the kisses in the car, the lobby, the hallway, the living room, and the bedroom. Kate thought she felt something last night, but she felt nothing. They were empty; they felt like lust. This…was different. It was lightning, fire, exhilaratingly new and wonderfully familiar at the same time. She wrapped her arms around Ziva, who smiled against her lips as she ran her fingers through Kate's hair.

This time, she felt something. She felt everything, Ziva's soft lips, her breath against Kate's cheek, the feeling in her stomach, arms wrapped around her, and the desperate desire to stay with her on that couch forever.

Kate had no idea what changed since the night before, maybe it was because Ziva stayed with her, maybe it was the pleading look on her face when she wanted an answer, maybe it was the way the Israeli kissed her back. But what she did know was that all she wanted to think about was Ziva, and that she never wanted to stop.

"I want to know—"

"Ziva, it means something. We're together, I want to stay together. I don't want to leave for work, we should call in sick. Okay maybe we shouldn't. We'll go to work but at the end of the day I want you to stay with me again, and I want to be with you, and—"

"That is good to know, but you made that point a few moments earlier." Ziva smiled and ran her fingers down Kate's back. "I wanted to know when you were going to take your shower."

They were moving way too fast, and Kate loved every second of it.

**אאאאאאאאאא**

To Kate's relief, no one seemed to be suspicious of the fact that both she and Ziva arrived to work at exactly the same time. In retrospect, they probably should have dried their hair. Or at least planned for one of them to show up five minutes later than the other. Or more preferably, not shown up late to work in the first place. But the only thing Kate was really interested in was being close to her for as long as possible. At the time, having to break apart from her in the elevator seemed like the most difficult thing in the world. She was almost ready to give up and walk out of the elevator with Ziva, head on her shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist. At least she had enough sense in her not to do _that_.

They were half an hour late, and Tony didn't pass up the opportunity to rub it in both of their faces. He had managed to hit Kate with more than a few office supplies. Crumpled paper, pens, and markers came flying toward her head every fifteen minutes or so. Gibbs had yet to notice, but she was too distracted to get angry. He would stop eventually. A pad of sticky notes grazed her cheek as she looked over at Ziva and gave her a subtle smile. She hoped to God that there wouldn't be a case that day; if she couldn't stay focused in the bullpen, she would probably die out in the field.

When Tony left for pizza, she leaned back and rubbed her eyes. The sigh she let out must have been loud enough for Ziva to hear.

"You are upset."

"No, just worn out."

"It is only 11:30."

It wasn't for another few minutes that either of them spoke.

"I can't wait until the end of the day."

"I cannot either."

"So you two are talking to each other." McGee sat in his chair and began to rearrange the objects on his desk.

Kate resisted the urge to groan. She hadn't been able to get five minutes alone with Ziva all day, and shouldn't have hoped to in the first place. "We were talking to each other before, McGee"

"Yes, but you're not arguing this time. That's progress." After spending another few moments shuffling through papers and looking under folders, McGee turned toward Kate with a puzzled look on his face. "Huh. Did Tony steal anything from my desk? I can't find half of my stuff."

"Look around my desk. He probably threw them at me. If you weren't down in the lab with Abby for three hours, you could have stopped him. What takes three hours, anyway? We're not working a case right now."

"I…well we're always kind of working on—Fine, we were slacking off and joking around. But, you both can't wait until the end of the day. See, you have something in common. You two aren't so different." McGee looked to Kate, then to Ziva, and back to Kate again. "Okay, I'm not sure if I've seen two women who were more different in my life, but I'm glad you two are talking."

The Israeli shot McGee an awkward smile. "Yes. I am too."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Ziva David was weak. Love was a weak thing to feel. Mossad taught that to her over and over and over and then she messed everything up when she went to America and fell in love with an NCIS Agent. And the part of her, the strong Ziva she always and never wanted to be, that told her love was a useless and foolish emotion, was the reason that staying with Kate would be a disaster. But Ziva David was weak, and she had stopped listening.

They hadn't even been together for a day when Kate told her that it meant "something", so Ziva shouldn't have felt disappointed. But she did, because she was in love with her, and she had no idea what "something" meant.

It was easy to act like she was satisfied with "something". But they had only been together for a day, and Ziva was going insane. Kate's kiss and her little smiles from across the bullpen should have been enough but Ziva was going insane and every time she looked at the other woman, every second she thought about her, she wanted more.

She could be satisfied with Kate's answer. Yes, she was completely fine with "something". Ziva was happy with Kate, she was happy being with Kate, and looking at Kate, and staying with Kate, and hearing Kate's voice—and Ziva didn't need Kate to tell her that she loved her; that was ridiculous, she didn't need to be _loved_ at all, "something" was enough—and thinking about Kate, and feeling Kate's lips against hers and…

It had only been a day, and Ziva didn't know how long she could keep pretending.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: After several painstaking rewrites of the outline for the entire story, and several rewrites of the actual chapter, I've finally finished it.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love reading them.**


	12. Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I in any way involved in the production or distribution of NCIS.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Chapter 12: Love**

Ziva had been at NCIS for a year, and it came as a relief to her that it was becoming less difficult to ignore her past.

Less difficult didn't mean it was easy, but it was easier than pretending. For eleven months of the year Ziva had spent at NCIS, she and Kate had been dating in secret. And every kiss, every whisper, every smile was darkened by how neither of them said the three words that Ziva had been thinking about since the first night they were together. She was tired of acting like everything was okay.

It wasn't acting, everything _was_ okay.

A smile spread across Ziva's face when an especially moody secretary walked into the bullpen and carelessly dropped a bouquet on Kate's desk.

"Overly sappy delivery to Kate Todd. That's you, right?"

Kate pursed her lips and looked down at the flowers in front of her. "Yes."

"Okay whatever; tell your boyfriend not to waste my time and our tax dollars. I have more important things to do." The secretary managed to add in one more indignant eye roll before walking off.

Kate's sparkling eyes met hers, and the look that they exchanged would have given everything away, but Tony was too busy taking advantage of the perfect opportunity presented by the flowers. She should have predicted that he would.

"Oooh, Kate has a boyfriend. What's his name?" Ziva bit her lip and gripped the edge of her desk at the sight of Tony's victorious smirk. He thought he was clever. "Steven, Kevin, Joe, Brandon—I bet it's Brandon."

"I don't know anyone named Brandon, Tony."

"Of course you'd say that, he's your secret lover."

Kate rolled her eyes and attempted to return to her paperwork, but Tony thought it a good idea to steal the manila folder from her hands. "I'll give it back to you if you let me read the card that came with the flowers."

"Really Tony, are we going to be like this today?"

"Yes."

"I'm not telling you."

"Fine, you won't get to go home tonight."

"No!" Kate hit her fist on the table, regained what was left of her composure, and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm busy tonight."

"With your boyfriend?"

"No." She sighed in frustration. "Fine. Yes. Just read the card."

Tony made a spectacle of the card opening, taking it and holding it up in front of his face before reading every word aloud, making Ziva wish she hadn't written anything at all.

"That was cute. But it doesn't say who wrote it. C'mon, tell me who it's from."

"You are jealous, Tony?" Ziva forced a laugh, trying to fight the urge to stab him with the nearest office supply. At the rate he was going, he probably had around fifteen seconds to live.

"No, Zi-_va_, I'm not jealous."

"Tony, give me the flowers and paperwork back."

"Not until you tell me who it's from." DiNozzo stuck his tongue out at Kate and picked a rose from the bouquet, smelling it exaggeratedly.

"I come in thirty seconds late for work and Tony's sitting on Kate's desk smelling flowers? I didn't know you were such a romantic."

"Quiet, McTardy. Kate's having a love affair with a secret boyfriend. And she's going to see him tonight."

Ziva hit her palm against the desk. "Give her the flowers back! And the paperwork."

Tony turned toward Ziva and sent her a bewildered stare before managing to regain his smug composure. "You know, Ziva…if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the one who's jealous."

"I'd probably listen to Ziva if I were you, Tony."

Ignoring McGee's remark, he turned to face Kate again and opened the manila folder. "This looks like an interesting case. And Kate Todd still has five pages to fill out."

She had always been told that she was quick to anger, but this time Tony deserved it. Without thinking, Ziva rushed toward Tony, grabbed the flowers from his hand, and twisted his right arm behind his back. Her left arm wrapped around his stomach, and the pained grimace on DiNozzo's face as he dropped the paperwork in front of Kate told her that she was successful. "I told you to stop." Giving Tony a shove in the other direction, Ziva placed the bouquet on Kate's desk.

"Aww, did someone bring Kate flowers?"

"More importantly Abby, Ziva attacked me." Tony grimaced as he shook out his arm and slunk back to his desk.

"Ziva does that all the time, Tony. Kate, this bouquet is gorgeous! Was it a gift? I love it."

"I would love it if you would get to work instead of crowding around Kate's desk." For once, the sound of Gibbs growing irritated had actually come as a relief to Ziva.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

One year ago, if someone had told Kate that NCIS was empty without Ziva, she would have laughed in their face—or gotten furious with them and told them to leave. But it was true. The way she lit up the room, the occasional laugh, hearing her voice—something that still hadn't ceased to amaze her—and the little smiles from across the bullpen. Kate's life was just inches away from being perfect.

Everything _was_ perfect, except for how she had no idea what they meant. And when they kissed, Ziva seemed distant. She didn't know either. Sometimes Kate wanted to give up and run.

The day was finally over; everyone had left except for Kate and Ziva.

Kate rubbed her eyes. "Are we going to your apartment tonight, or mine?"

"I do not know."

"Mine then. Meet me at the north side, this time."

"I will see you in fifteen minutes.

Kate took the elevator down to the ground floor of NCIS and pulled her coat closer to her as she walked outside and moved toward the side of the building. It was too cold to be waiting for Ziva, but on the odd chance that someone else was still there, leaving at precisely the same time as the other woman would look suspicious. And if they were to see them get into the same car, that would look even more suspicious. Maybe they were paranoid. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath. Almost a year later, she still didn't know where the hell she was going with Ziva. They hadn't spent a night apart in three weeks, but the other woman had started sleeping with her back turned toward her, and every night it seemed as if she moved further away from Kate.

"You look cold. You could have waited in the car."

"I know."

A silence passed between them, and Kate shifted her weight as she watched Ziva look away from her, suddenly taking great interest in the pavement. For a couple who had been together for so long, they shared surprising amount of sudden awkward moments.

For another several minutes, Kate went from staring at the sky, to the buildings around her, to the lamppost a few feet away, to sending a subtle glance toward the other woman. She shoved her hands into the coat pocket and exhaled deeply. Ziva wasn't going to say anything until she did. "What are you thinking about?"

No answer; and Kate squeezed her eyes shut. Was this some kind of fallout—no, of course not, Ziva had bought her an expensive looking bouquet just that morning—when the hell would she stop being so damned confusing? It drove her half-crazy, and at the same time for some inexplicable reason it made her love the Israeli even more. Was it really love; when was the last time either one of them actually went out and admitted that? Right, never. She wanted to scream, but of course that could only make the current situation worse. And it felt like they would be standing there forever, until Kate froze to death, because neither one of them would…

Her eyelids fluttered open when Ziva wrapped her arms around her, resting her head on Kate's shoulder.

The Israeli's voice was a soft whisper, but Kate had never heard the woman sound so absolutely certain in all the time she had known her. "I love you."

Kate stiffened, her knees shook, and she let out an involuntary laugh. "Wow." It was the only thing Kate could manage to say, she felt incredibly stupid for it.

"I…should not have said that." Ziva sounded heartbroken, but she didn't let go. Kate had never loved her more than she did at that moment.

"I love you, Ziva."

And Kate pressed her lips against Ziva's; she wrapped her arms around her waist, ran her fingers through her hair, and had never felt more amazing, so indescribably wonderful in her life. One thing ran through her mind, over and over. She loved her, she loved her, she loved her, she loved her, dear god she loved Ziva David.

Without warning, Ziva stiffened and broke away from Kate's lips. It would have been nice if the kiss had lasted for at least another eternity.

"Kate."

"Hmm." She let out a soft sigh and ran her hand along Ziva's cheek.

"Did you hear footsteps?

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: This one took forever to write, for some reason.  
**

**And thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I enjoy reading them.**


	13. Fear

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Chapter 13: Fear**

Nothing had come of the footsteps on Friday night. When they finally had the courage to look, no one was there. By Monday morning, Ziva had managed to push it to the back of her mind, but the tugging feeling—the constant worry that made her heart beat faster and her stomach sink every time she thought about it—wouldn't go away. Something wasn't right.

Ziva willed her eyelids open for the five hundredth time that morning as she took another sip of her third coffee in twenty minutes. She probably shouldn't have stayed up all night talking to Kate, but it seemed like all the time in the world wasn't enough. Something within her never stopped telling her, over and over, that it wouldn't last forever. It wouldn't even last a while. Eventually, sometime soon, she was going to mess everything up.

Happiness had always found a way to escape from Ziva David.

At this point, the people in the coffee shop knew her by name. They knew her favorite spot—the armchair by the corner window—and saved it for her. She had probably become their second largest source of income, behind Gibbs of course. Closing her eyes for a few minutes wouldn't hurt; she had two hours before she absolutely had to be at NCIS. Ziva propped her feet up on the coffee table in front of her and sighed, a smile playing on her lips. It would end soon, but it was there for that moment. And in all likelihood, the next day. Maybe until the end of the week. As she drifted off, she felt the awareness that someone had sat down in the chair across from her pull at her mind, but she didn't care.

Until he spoke, unable to mask the hurt behind his betrayed whisper. "How long?"

Her eyelids fluttered open. Tony. She took another sip of coffee and said nothing.

"You and Kate. In the parking lot."

Ziva ran her fingers along the lid of the paper mug and took in a long breath. "Yes."

"How long?"

"Eleven months."

Tony pursed his lips and shifted in his chair. "You couldn't even wait longer than one month before getting together with another co-worker? Did anyone ever bother to tell you about rule—"

"Twelve."

"And you don't care. You two are hiding this from everyone. You're going to mess up the team, you're—"

"That is not the reason you are angry, Tony."

Their eyes met, and Ziva knew that within minutes, everything could end. She could get fired; she would have to return to Israel, she could never see Kate again. Fear passed over her, she had never been more afraid of anything in her life. But her expression was unflinching, unemotional, and Tony looked away from her. "Why?"

"Because I love her."

It felt like the longest time before he replied. "You…I can't believe you. Not with her. Not Kate."

"You will not tell anyone, Tony."

"I think I should, Ziva."

"That was not a suggestion." She moved over to where Tony sat, planted her hands on the armrest and leaned forward. He sank into the chair; and a frightening emphasis lay behind each word Ziva said. "And do not follow us again." She pushed away from the armchair with enough force to move it several inches, and strode out of the coffee shop before he had the chance respond.

It surprised her to realize that she wasn't angry with Tony, she desperately wanted to be, but she wasn't.

**אאאאאאאאאא**

Ziva watched as the other woman stared down at her plate and twisted the linguine around her fork disinterestedly. Maybe dinner at Kate's favorite restaurant wasn't the best time to tell her—she hadn't said anything for five minutes—but Ziva decided to repeat herself, and cleared her throat. "Tony knows—"

A passing waiter gave Kate a strange look as she hit her fist on the table and accidentally launched a fork into the air, forcing Ziva to practically jump up from her seat and catch the flying utensil before it hurt someone. "You told me that already!"

"I am sorry…" Ziva leaned forward and placed a hand over Kate's. It was all she could do not to walk over to the other side of the table, wrap her arms around the other woman, and whisper something—_anything—_into her ear.

Kate sighed, the frustration in her voice replaced by quiet weariness. "What do we do at this point?"

Ziva squeezed her eyes shut. The way Kate spoke made it sound like everything was over, just because she had been foolish enough to kiss her in the parking lot and get caught and they would go home separately that night and she would be back in Israel with no one, with nothing, miserable and alone. "I do not want it to end."

"Did he say he was going to tell anyone?"

It felt like ages before Ziva broke the silence that fell between them. "He said he wanted to."

"It's not going to end." Kate paused, and traced the lines on Ziva's palm with her thumb. "I love you."

She still had Kate for at least one more night. For that moment, it was the only thing she cared about. And she would probably wake up with Kate smiling beside her the next morning, and maybe the one after that. She didn't remember leaning over the table, but there she was, inches apart from her, Kate's breath on her cheek. "I love you."

As her lips brushed against Kate's, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A man leaned against a lamppost outside of the restaurant, staring at them darkly through the window. Ziva pushed the other woman away, sat down, and began rearranging the silverware on the table. "We are going back to my apartment now."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Tony knew. Tony knew. Tony knew. And he probably blamed Ziva for everything. The thought wouldn't leave Kate's head, she should have told him; she should have known that he would figure it out eventually, if she had told him maybe he wouldn't be so hurt, maybe he wouldn't want to tell everyone.

Maybe the thought of everyone finding out was what was making Ziva act so paranoid. She had almost forgotten to pay the bill, she told Kate to keep her head down in the car on the way back to their apartment; she locked the door twice, closed all of the curtains, and refused to turn the lights on. The Israeli had even ushered her into the bathroom, lined the bathtub with blankets and pillows, and tried to make her sleep there for the night because it was the only room in the apartment with no windows. Fortunately, Kate was able to convince her to draw the line at forcing her to do _that_. She felt safer with Ziva's arms wrapped around her than she possibly could anywhere else.

The sound of Ziva's cell phone startled her awake, and Kate groaned as she felt the other woman shift her weight, let go of her waist, and kiss her on the neck before reaching for the phone on the nightstand. Kate turned to face her and mumbled, "Who is it?"

Ziva stared at her phone and froze; the expression on her face enough to send chills down Kate's spine. There really was a reason to be afraid. The other woman muttered something in Hebrew and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Kate bit her lip and stared at the ceiling, trying to listen to her voice from the other room. Her tone switched between almost inaudible whispering, to infuriated shouting, to one filled with nothing but cold contempt for whoever was on the other line. She caught a faint "Shalom", and it was another five minutes before Ziva returned to the room, this time shutting the door silently behind her and leaning against it, eyes closed, biting her lip.

Kate sat up and rest her head on her knees. "What is it?"

"It…it was nothing." Ziva's weak smile wasn't convincing at all. "It was nothing, just a friend."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: Not entirely satisfied with this one, but I really wanted to go ahead and put it up here anyway. The recent slowdown in updates has been bothering me. From here on out, the outline is hazy and less specific, and the details harder to write, so updating might slow further.  
**

**A special thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, I enjoy reading them and they make my day.  
**


	14. The Call

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Chapter 14: The Call**

Mossad Deputy Director Eli David slammed the phone onto the receiver, jammed his lit cigar into the ashtray, and slumped over his desk. Wisps of smoke lingered in the air and obscured his sour expression. He had told Ziva that he would quit smoking. That was eight years ago. The Deputy Director pressed the button on the intercom. "You may come in now, Officer Levin."

A tall, angular man with dark slicked back hair and a sharp nose entered the room and sat across from Eli. He leaned back in his chair and eyed the Deputy Director curiously, an arrogant smirk playing on his thin lips, waiting for him to speak.

"Ziva would rather stay with some American," he muttered, gravelly voice dripping with venomous spite, "but not her own father." Eli downed another shot of vodka and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his temples. He had told Ziva he would quit drinking, too. "I did not think she had the ability to love someone."

"Your daughter is in love?" A wry smile spread across Officer Levin's face. "He should be careful. She will kill him in two weeks."

It was a wonder that Eli David had been able to put up with Levin's smug remarks about his daughter for so long. Perhaps the only thing preventing him from personally firing the young officer immediately was the fact that he was too distracted by the question of Ziva's loyalty to Israel. "She thinks that she is in love with a woman."

The other man laughed softly and crooked an eyebrow. "A woman?"

Eli David hated Officer Levin. It infuriated him endlessly that the man could sit across from him, laughing at him, mocking Ziva, arrogant enough to assume that he was too good of an agent to worry about any sort of consequence for ridiculing the David family at every possible opportunity. "She is my daughter, and you will talk about her with respect, Officer Levin."

"If she is your daughter, then you should have no problem convincing her to come back to Israel."

"Ziva is stubborn, and refuses. She will not listen to me, and has threatened to quit Mossad to go live in America with this woman."

"Let her, then. If she has gone soft—and it sounds as if she has—Mossad has no need for her."

"The woman is an NCIS Agent!" Eli David's palm slammed against the table and he paused, breath ragged, waiting to regain his composure before speaking again. "If Ziva is no longer loyal to her own father, to Mossad, to Israel…I…" His voice trailed off. He didn't know what to do, the thought that he was about to lose another child had become unbearable. As much as he wanted to personally throw Levin into the Mediterranean, he needed Ziva to return to Israel and Mossad. He needed his best agent back, and when that happened, he could afford a few more minutes of sleep at night, and would be able to do away with the infuriating man sitting in front of him. It seemed like his life was just a long list of desperate measures, one after another, and he was about take another one. "I asked you here to help me with something. Call it an assignment."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Half an hour after the first call, Kate groaned when she heard the sound of Ziva's cell phone for the second time that night. She bit her lip and prayed that the other woman would ignore it, but Ziva sat up, let out a sharp curse in Hebrew, and hit her fist on the headboard. For the second time that night, the Israeli grabbed the phone on the nightstand, left the room, and slammed the door behind her. Kate closed her eyes; she couldn't hear her voice beyond the door.

Only a minute later, she reentered, silent, and pressed her lips against Kate's cheek.

Kate turned toward her and propped herself up with one arm. "Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on, Ziva? You dragged me home from the restaurant, you tried to make me sleep in the bathtub, you've had two mysterious phone calls and don't seem interested in telling me anything about them, and this is the most upset I've seen you since—"

"I am going for a walk."

Kate grabbed onto Ziva's wrist and looked into her eyes, trying to find some meaning behind the blank expression on the other woman's face. "A walk. You're going on a walk. At eleven P.M."

"Yes."

It was useless to try to stop her, Kate knew that. She let go and collapsed back onto the bed, pulling the sheets closer to her. "No more than twenty minutes."

Ziva said nothing, ran her fingers through Kate's hair, and left.

Three hours, several unanswered phone calls, and five frantic voice mails later, she still hadn't returned. Kate had tried everything to get to sleep shy of hitting herself over the head with a mallet, but she couldn't quiet the miserable thoughts that pulled at her mind. As much as she trusted Ziva to be able to take care of herself, she couldn't fight the aching feeling in her stomach, the painful awareness that something was horribly wrong, and she couldn't do anything about it. She needed a distraction, she couldn't get five words into the nearest book, she couldn't hold onto the pencil long enough to begin sketching something, and getting any sort of rest had become entirely impossible. If she couldn't handle her girlfriend leaving with no explanation for any length of time—which was probably inevitable, she was dating _Ziva_ of all people—without going into a near-meltdown, she wasn't going to survive another three months. So she got the idea of trying to take care of the other thing that was tormenting her at the moment. Tony.

**אאאאאאאאאא**

Standing in front of Tony's apartment door at 2:30 in the morning, Kate debated whether it was right to wake him up and confront him about her relationship with Ziva. After coming to the conclusion that it probably wasn't, she realized that at that moment she didn't care. She needed a distraction, and the situation needed to be resolved—preferably as early as possible. Her fist slammed against the door repeatedly, and a few moments later, a particularly irate Tony opened the door. Muttering something about privacy and sleep deprivation, he leaned against the door frame, the expression on his face somewhere between confused and annoyed.

"Nice boxers, DiNozzo."

"It's 2:30 in the morning. Do you sleep? Because I do. If this is about the lunch you packed disappearing, it was McGee."

"The sandwich wrapper was on your desk. And I saw the mustard on your shirt."

"I was framed!"

"Okay whatever. That isn't why I'm here."

For the briefest moment, hurt and frustration passed over his face. His voice grew lower, and her name came from his lips like some bad memory he desperately wanted to—but couldn't—forget. "Ziva."

"I know you didn't want things to work out this way."

"That's exactly right. I didn't. Of all the people you could have just decided to fall in love with, it had to be—"

Kate forced herself to look into Tony's eyes. She didn't love him, she never did. It was the truth, but for some reason it hurt deeply to tell him. "You and I…," her voice grew weaker as she spoke, "…were never going to happen, Tony."

A painful silence. "Your…_girlfriend_," he spat, "…threatened me. She threatened me, Kate! Do you really want to date a threatener?"

"That's not a word. And I would listen to her."

His voice had become a tired whisper, eyes pleading for an answer that she wasn't able to give him. "I care about you."

"Then if you do, you'll let this go." Kate tore herself away from Tony's gaze and turned away, leaving him in silence.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

_Ziva didn't recognize the number, and she didn't know who the man on the phone was, with a smug, dark voice that both irritated and terrified her almost to the point of irrationality. But he knew her, and his accent was Israeli._

"_I expect to see you at the corner of 13__th__ and K Street, Officer David. Within an hour. Alone."_

"_I will not meet you until I know who you are, and why you are demanding that I—"_

"_We both know your priorities, and because of that, you're going to be at 13__th__ and K before 12:30. It isn't a very long walk from Caitlin Todd's apartment at all." His voice was low and malicious, and Ziva was positive that she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Wouldn't it be devastating if something happened to her?"_

Maybe she should have stayed with Kate to make sure that she was safe. But for some inexplicable reason, she left, she lied to her, and she knew she would feel guilty about it later. Ziva walked briskly, the night's chill further entrenching a feeling of hopeless anxiety and eminent catastrophe as it crept slowly inward, into her bones, taking hold of her heart.

13th and K drew closer, just two blocks away, and no one stood there. Ziva moved faster. A block away, and still no evidence that someone was waiting for her. Her thoughts shifted to Kate, and for the second time that night let out a sharp curse. It was a trap, they were going after Kate, and Ziva was stupid enough to make it easy for them.

Ziva passed a darkened alley and paused. Her eyes darted to the shadows between the two dingy, red brick buildings and she reached for the cell phone in her pocket. Halfway through dialing Kate's number, something—no, someone—moved from behind a rusted fire escape. Ziva knew what the man standing patiently in the shadows wanted, and the instant she dropped her cell phone on the pavement and reached for her weapon, he raised a gun.

Silence, stillness, and a cold wind ran through Ziva's hair. Her hand inched toward the knife hidden at her waist, heartbeat growing louder. The man remained unmoving, five feet away, his gun still pointed at her chest. She grasped the blade's handle.

By the time she heard the soft footsteps behind her, it was too late.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's Note: Well, that update took forever. I didn't spend as much time proofreading this, so if you see any typos or any bits that don't make sense, please point them out.  
**

**I hope you all have had a happy Easter!  
**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and provided feedback. I greatly appreciate it, and hope to read more.**


	15. Assassin

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Chapter 15: Assassin**

"Is it really so important?"

"I'll call you from the base tomorrow morning, Lena."

The night grew darker. Lena Clark bit her lip and leaned against the stoop railing, anxiously playing with the house key in her pocket. She had always been an independent woman, but that night the notion of Isaac leaving her was unbearable.

"It's just—"

The forced smile on Isaac's face did little to put her at ease. "The vote is tomorrow anyway. Isn't it?"

Lena let out a muffled groan and tilted her head toward the sky. "Yes." There were times when it seemed impossible to recall why she ran for office at all.

"You need rest, and if I remember, it was just this evening that you described to me—in more detail than I ever wanted to know—exactly how bad my snoring problem is. Tomorrow night. I'll stay."

"It's after midnight. You have almost six hours before you have to be there."

"And it will take me that much time to finish the reports that I've been neglecting."

A wry smirk tugged on her lips. "You'd think a Navy Captain wouldn't procrastinate as much as you do."

"You'd think."

She hated repetitiveness and time wasting, unless it involved Isaac. They went through this routine every time one of them had to leave early, which was far more often than she would have liked. Five minutes spent pleading in the living room followed by ten minutes of silence in the doorway, and then a twenty to thirty minute long exchange on the doorstep before someone built up the courage to walk away, usually after they had nothing more to say to each other. Of course it was useless, they never spent more than a day apart anymore, but that didn't matter.

Lena held a cigarette up to her face and fumbled for a lighter for a few seconds before giving up. She was supposed to quit anyway. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. I promise." He gave her one final smile, and turned away. As he began to walk down the street, neither of them paid any attention to the sound of another pair of footsteps, growing louder, moving closer.

But Isaac heard the gunshot.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Pain.

Strong hands slammed Ziva's face against the wall, the rough brick cut into her cheek. Ache and anger ran through her, but she was exhausted, hopeless; weak.

_Cold steel pressed against Ziva's throat._

"_What do you want?"_

"_I want you to follow me, Officer David."_

Too weak to fight, too weak to think, too weak to remember, too weak to care that she was too weak to do anything.

She tasted the cut on her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Bruises ran along her side, scrapes down her back, sweat and blood ran down her face, dirt smeared her clothing. With every agonizing head throb came the panicked realization that she had no idea where she was, couldn't recall what happened to her, and most terrifying—that she was powerless.

_The man kicked Ziva, his boot digging into her spine, and she collapsed forward_. _The van doors slammed shut, and the aging vehicle shook and creaked madly as the driver climbed in and started the engine._

Handcuffs latched around her wrists with a resonating click. Ziva David had lost.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Kate never got back to sleep. Every time she began to drift off, thoughts of Ziva startled her awake. She spent the rest of the night waiting in the living room, unable to shift her gaze from the door. By 3:30, she had given up on calling Ziva's cell phone. 4:30—and she had gone through her fifth cup of coffee. 5:00—and she was senseless. So she decided to go into NCIS an hour early. It was entirely likely—or at least that's what she told herself—that she would find Ziva sitting there, too busy to answer her phone. Then Kate would yell at her, they would make up, and the entire ordeal would be over and forgotten by mid-afternoon.

But she wasn't there. Ziva wasn't there and Kate didn't know what to do. She frantically dialed the Israeli's number one more time. No answer.

Kate groaned and sank into her chair. Despite her best efforts, she lost control. She stood up and slammed her palm against the desk, sending various office supplies flying in the process. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! What the hell?"

"Looks like someone hasn't had their morning coffee."

Wonderful. DiNozzo had the same idea she did. Kate had arrived to work an hour early and couldn't even get some time to herself because—she had to calm down, regain the little composure and patience she did possess, and hopefully she wouldn't go berserk in the middle of the bullpen again. "I've had five cups already."

"Sure they weren't decaf, Kate? I've seen you make that mistake before. It's not pretty."

"I don't know where she is."

Tony's lips curled into a bitter smirk. "Have you looked near your bedroom, Kate? I'm sure she couldn't have gone too far."

"Just—You know what, DiNozzo? I don't have the energy to…" Kate rubbed her eyes in exasperation. "Just let it go, Tony."

But he wasn't about to listen to her. "So I was wondering…have you two ever…"

"It's been eleven months. Guess."

A pause. Maybe he wouldn't say anything. "How is she?"

Of course he would say something; Kate was stupid for hoping otherwise. Jaw clenched, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Incredible."

Glaring at DiNozzo, Kate knew he was trying to come up with some kind of response—a biting comeback, an insult mocking Ziva's accent, an eloquent soliloquy begging her to elope with him—anything at all, really. But he said nothing, slammed his drawer shut, and left. Agent Todd spent the next hour and a half in a silent trance.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Jenny Shepard looked disheveled. Or at least she did by her own, very strict standards. A small strand of hair had fallen in front of her face, her posture was slightly less stiff than a board—instead of stiffer than one. Tiny differences—but Gibbs noticed them, and he knew that he wasn't about to hear good news. It was rarely good news with her, but he was about to be informed of something especially bad.

"What is this about, Jenny?"

"Ziva."

"Officer David."

"Yes." The Director shifted uncomfortably. "Officer David…has been taken into custody."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Author's note:** It's been months, but I finally updated! Sorry for this update being a few hundred words shorter than most. Also, the italics do indeed signify a flashback of sorts, just to sort out some potential format-related confusion. Didn't spend a lot of time proofreading this, so feel free to point out any errors/plot holes/sketchy areas in general.

A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, please continue to read and review in the future!


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